Naruto: The difference a kiss can make
by Scribe of the Apocalypse
Summary: You have a large charming forehead makes me want to kiss it," Sakura had long to hear those words and finally did from her crush Sasuke Uchiha. However the fairy tale was exposed as false and she learns that it was in fact Naruto who told her those words
1. Chapter 1

**An:** Well here it is my next foray into Fanfiction. Unlike my other stories, I'm announcing the pairing from the get go and setting it in stone as Naruto and Sakura. I know I said I'd post it when Intentions began to go Harem but I figured why not since I promised a reviewer. Also I'm hoping to get chapter 11 of Intentions out by tomorrow. I hope you enjoy this new story your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.**

**Chapter 1: This fairy tale is real.**

"Team Seven's roster will be…" the chunin instructor Iruka Umino said to his gathered students.

The recently graduated boy who only a few nights before learned that he was the container of the most powerful of all the tailed beasts listened with anticipation almost positive that was his team about to be announced.

"Naruto Uzumaki…"

"Yes," he thought elated before crossing his fingers thinking, "Sakura and anybody but Sasuke." Repeating it in his head over and over again until, "Sakura Haruno…"

"Alright," he shouted standing up in his joy but noticed that Sakura seemed to deflate like a balloon. Hardly upset as he was sure he could make her change her mind about him after all he had to change a whole village's if he was going to become Hokage.

But the next name caused the two of them to switch moods as Iruka said, "…and Sasuke Uchiha."

"Damn it," Naruto said flopping into his chair. Natural he raised a fuss and Iruka pointed out that due to his lousy grades the best student was paired with worse. The rest of the teams were assembled not that Naruto was paying attention, but when Iruka said, "I suggest you get to know your teammates and we'll introduce the Jounin-sensei's after lunch."

Naruto went off to eat on his own positive Sakura would turn him down, but as he ate by himself he was hit by a flash of inspiration. Managing to get the jump on Sasuke he left him tied up and went in search of his pink-haired crush.

* * *

Sakura was depressed since Sasuke had turned her down cold to eating together. Working over her plan of attack in her head she came to the sad conclusion that the only thing noteworthy about her was her forehead. She was pulled from her depressing thoughts when she looked up and saw Sasuke standing across from her his eyes staring right into her.

"_Sasuke's staring at me so intensely_," she thought before fantasizing Sasuke saying, "_Sakura, you have such a large and charming forehead. It makes me want to kiss it._"

Needless to say, hearing those very words repeated stunned the girl. The part of herself that often spoke up for her in her mind shouted, "_Hell Yeah he's mine_."

But her fantasy came crashing down when Sasuke added, "Just kidding that's something Naruto would say."

Nevertheless Sasuke sat down next to her on the bench, but again he surprised her saying, "Sakura there's something I want to ask you. What do you think of Naruto?"

Sakura paused a moment not sure why Sasuke wanted to talk about Naruto but was willing to indulge his curiosity. "Naruto's annoying. All he does is get in my way and doesn't understand anything about me. All I want is for you to acknowledge me. I'm serious because I like you." Seeing her chance Sakura began to move in to kiss him.

However a gurgling sound attracted her attention and Sasuke tried to get up to leave. Acting on instinct she grabbed his wrist holding him there saying, "Please Sasuke just one kiss." She could see Sasuke looked conflicted.

Naruto really wanted to kiss her but whatever it was doing flips in his stomach was most insistent. He was also surprised at the incredible strong grip she had on him. He leaned in hoping she would let go, but when she closed her eyes he moved his lips to her forehead. One because he knew it had always bothered her and two because he had begun to feel guilty so didn't want to steal her first kiss under false pretenses.

Feeling Sasuke's lips on her forehead was a dream come true for the pink-haired girl. Opening her eyes as Sasuke pulled back a blush adorned her cheeks, which she was surprised to see, was mirrored on Sasuke's.

Naruto tried not to let the elation that appeared on Sakura face get him down but it was hard. But more immediate concerns arouse when his stomach protested about him forgetting its plight. Grabbing his midsection he had to choose between maintaining the henge or losing control of his bowels naturally he let go of the henge. He winced not just from the pain in his stomach but the joy on Sakura face melting only to be replaced with shock which quickly turned into anger.

"Naruto you bastard," she shouted nailing him in the jaw. Stomping away Sakura left the battered boy who as quickly as he could, considering the whole earth seemed to be swaying made his way to the bathroom.

* * *

Sakura was still furious at the blonde prankster. "_Stupid Naruto_," she thought agitated. The blonde had decided to sit in the back and keep quit after lunch which since he had managed to anger both his new teammates was probably for the best. But as time went by while they waited for their sensei, Sakura began to calm and wonder just how it was that Naruto had seemed to be inside her head. Not to mention the butterflies she had felt from when he stared at her. She had tried to play it off that he had looked like Sasuke, but that couldn't be the whole reason. At least she hoped not as that made her rather shallow. No, there had been genuine warmth in his eyes when he stared at her of that she was sure. It made her a little uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. She glanced back at him from her spot in the middle of the room and although she could tell he was bored made a point to look out the window.

The door to the class opening drew her attention and in walked a man wearing the standard Jounin uniform. He had his headband tilted so that only one of his eyes was visible. He also appeared to be rather laid back as he strolled to the center of the room.

Kakashi staring at his future team was a little disconcerted that they were spread out among the class. Sasuke was sitting in the front with his hands folded in front of him. Kakashi could tell that the boy was gauging his strength trying to determine just how strong he was. The kunoichi was sitting in the middle of the class she appeared to be a little put off about his late arrival. Finally there was Naruto. He half expected that the blonde would have gotten up to some sort of mischief while he waited. But he looked to be depressed about something. Deciding he had left them on the hook long enough he said, "How about we head up to the roof to learn a little more about each other."

* * *

Naruto still hadn't recovered his excitement about becoming a shinobi thinking sadly, "_Man, I blew it today. Sakura's never going to like me now_." After they had told each other about their hopes and dreams their new sensei had told them to meet early the next morning for a training exercise. Although he seemed to have delighted in telling them it was actually a test which would determine if they actually became genin. Even though his whole future was on the line he was still depressed about what Sakura had said when Kakashi had asked about what it was she disliked.

"Naruto," had been her one word reply. But he supposed he deserved it as he would be upset to if someone pretend to be the pink-haired girl in order to get close to him. Having already blown his chance at love he couldn't really work up the energy to get psyched about tomorrow's exam.

Little did Naruto know that he was being followed by the girl of his affections. She couldn't get the way she had felt when he had complimented her forehead out of her mind. It didn't hurt also that she had run into the real Sasuke after clobbering Naruto and received a brisk, "You're annoying," as a result of her trying to talk to him. But her curiosity had grown due to what Naruto said during his introduction. About why he wanted to be Hokage which was to make people notice him. After all, plenty of people noticed him due to his annoying pranks and such. Yet as she had followed him home discreetly she noticed that people made a point of not seeing the blonde.

Not to mention since he didn't know he was being watched he seemed more pensive. She assumed it was due to Kakashi telling them that there was a test tomorrow but she didn't think that was solely it. Especially since once he reached a Ramen stand he appeared to brighten right up as he walked in, like he didn't want to burden the people inside with his troubles. Wanting to learn more about the suddenly mysterious Naruto, she henged herself to look like an unassuming older man and entered the stand.

Upon entering she saw a cute young girl leaning over the counter as she talked to Naruto. The sad boy he had been only moments before seemed to have disappeared. But the waitress wasn't fooled saying, "What's the matter Naruto?"

"Nothing Ayame," the boy replied.

Ayame stood back putting her hands on her hips and looked like she was about to pry more but noticed that the henged Sakura had her attention on her favorite customer. Smiling at Naruto she said, "Did you wash up before you came here?"

"Yep," he replied completely unconvincingly.

"Why don't I believe you," she said before telling him to go in the back while sending a look her father's way. The old man nodded, heading into the back as well on the pretense of getting some ingredients. Ayame sent a smile Sakura's way before walking to her. The henged girl assumed it was to take her order. So it came as no surprise that she was caught completely unaware when Ayame pulled a cleaver from the behind the counter and said darkly, "Why are you so interested in that boy?"

"What? I'm not," Sakura said sweating nervously, "I'm just here for some ramen."

"You better be," she said her voice giving Sakura a very good idea of what would happen if she was lying, "he has more than enough on his plate already."

A pot rattling told Ayame that Naruto was on his way back to the front of the store. Cleaver disappearing from sight, she turned to the blonde as he appeared giving no clue she had been brandishing a weapon and threatening a customer only seconds before. Naruto raised his hands showing they were clean before returning to his stool. Ayame took Sakura's order first, before returning and dotting on Naruto.

As the waitress chatted with him, Sakura tried to understand what she had meant by Naruto had a lot to deal with, while being sure to keep her eyes solely on her ramen as she listened to the two talking.

"Now are you going to tell me why you are so down," Ayame said her voice filled with concern.

"It's nothing really Ayame."

"Come on Naruto, I know you better than that. You should be bouncing off the walls since you graduated. Instead you are barely able to smile."

"Not to mention you've only had a single bowl," Teuchi said.

"Dad," Ayame said, "now's not the time to be worrying about all the extra stuff you prepared since you thought he was going to gorge himself today."

"Alright," Naruto conceded, "I guess it's just I did something really stupid today."

"Oh," Ayame prompted.

"I henged myself to look like Sasuke in order to ask the girl assigned to my team what she thought of me."

Ayame understood since she had often heard Naruto complain about Sasuke and all the attention that he garnered even though he didn't seem to want it. "Well that was kind of mean of you," Ayame said to which Sakura had to agree.

"I know now," Naruto replied sadly, "but I really wanted to know what she thought of me."

"It wasn't that Sakura girl you are always talking about is it?" Ayame asked.

Naruto nodded before saying, "Yeah, I told her I think she had a cute forehead like I always wanted to."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise, but luckily for her Ayame was too engrossed in Naruto's tale to notice that she was eavesdropping or blushing.

Ayame shaking her head said, "You know she probably thinks Sasuke told her that making her even more infatuated with him." Sakura also had to agree to that as she remembered how her heart had sped up and the joy she felt making her like him even more.

"No, all I succeeded in doing was making her hate me more," Naruto said dejectedly, "Not that she thought highly of me before. Since when she thought I was Sasuke she said I get in her way and I'm annoying."

"She knows it was you," Ayame said confused.

"Yeah, she tried to kiss me when she thought I was Sasuke," Naruto said.

Ayame asked, "You didn't take advantage did you?"

"I might have," Naruto said honestly, "if I didn't suddenly get sick. I tried to get away but she grabbed onto my arm and wouldn't let go. I…I kissed her forehead, since I didn't want to steal her first kiss like mine was taken from me." Ayame cocked an eyebrow at that but Naruto shook his head saying he wasn't going to talk about it. Moving on he said, "Well in the end I dropped the henge and she hit me. Later she said she hated me, so I guess I really screwed up."

Putting another bowl in front of him Teuchi said, "Buck up Naruto. Aren't you going to be Hokage one day, there'll be plenty of women I guarantee you that."

"I guess…but they won't be Sakura." Naruto began to eat the free bowl and Ayame went to busy herself in back. Sakura meanwhile couldn't believe that Naruto thought so highly of her. She had always thought his constant asking out and other means of attracting her attention had been to get under her skin or in the way of Sasuke and her. But it appeared he genuinely cared and he had really meant what he said about her forehead, long considered her most unattractive feature. Finishing her meal she left behind the money for it and headed home

When she arrived at her house she noticed that no one was home which suited her fine since her mom would probably pester her for all the day's details. Walking upstairs to her room she looked in the mirror at herself. Remembering how she thought her body just didn't compare to the other kunoichi she put her fingers to her forehead where Naruto had kissed her. Touching the spot she was surprised to feel herself flush at the memory of it as well as the small smile she saw that adorned her lips. Pulling her hand away she thought, "_It's only because he looked like Sasuke._" But even as she thought that she knew that it wasn't entirely true. The honest way Naruto had spoken about her in the Ramen stand had affected her too, making her feel better about herself and more self confident. Looking at the time Sakura realized she needed to get some sleep because tomorrow was going to be a make it or break it day.

* * *

Team Seven was being given a second chance. After Kakashi had arrived hours late he had told them they had until a buzzard rang to get two bells from him. Naturally they had failed thus far. Naruto had attacked brazenly right from the get go. After easily being handled by the jounin and left upside down in a tree. Sasuke had made his move. He had fared better as expected of the number one rookie but in the end he had ended up buried up to his chin in the ground.

Kakashi had then focused on Sakura easily dispatching her with a genjutsu of her crush badly wounded sending her right into unconsciousness. While that had been going on Naruto decided to grab the bento lunches, but Kakashi had stopped him and tied him to the pole. Although, Kakashi had told them not to feed Naruto before he left and she was still a little angry at him for his trick she offered him her lunch.

Naruto had been surprised but not nearly as much as Sasuke. However he didn't complain seeing as he was going to have done it himself realizing that if they were going to succeed all three of them would need to be at full strength when they next assault the jounin. Plus, Naruto was proving himself to be quite a bit better than he anticipated and far stronger than Sakura.

Kakashi had suddenly appeared bearing down on the young girl asking if she had trouble understanding his directions. Sakura had stuttered a response but Sasuke thinking more clearly as well as not wanting to return to the Academy had simply said that if they were going to stand any chance of taking the bells they would need all three of them at a hundred percent. Much to the surprise of all three genin Kakashi had passed them. They had then taken off leaving the training grounds forgetting the blonde still tied to the post.

Naruto was surprised when ten minutes later Sakura showed up and stopped in front of him. "Uhm…hey…" he said lamely.

She was torn between glaring at the blonde and the interest that her observing him the day before had raised in her. Finally she said, "I want you to do something for me."

"Sure thing Sakura," Naruto said, "But…could you untie me first."

Sakura stepped behind the pole loosening the knot. Once the ropes fell away he asked, "So what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to ask Sasuke what he thinks of me," Sakura said having thought about henging herself to look like Naruto but decided to use the real deal as she was sure Sasuke would be able to detect her.

Sakura saw Naruto's face drop at what she requested, but before she could begin to twist his arm into doing it he said, "Alright Sakura. When do you want me to do it?"

Sakura was surprised but quickly said, "Tomorrow. Before Kakashi shows up I'll hide nearby. Okay?" Naruto agreed so Sakura giddy that she would finally know what her crush thought of her ran off. Confident that tomorrow she'd final learn the key to unlocking Sasuke's heart after all if he told Naruto what he liked about her she could highlight those traits to make herself irresistible to the last Uchiha.

* * *

Sakura was giddy with excitement and for a moment wondered if that was how Naruto had felt when he had approached her disguised as Sasuke. However a feeling of dread came over her as she remembered how well it had turned out for Naruto. Shaking it off she thought, "_Get over it Sakura. No way Sasuke thinks of you as being as annoying as Naruto_."

The plan was relatively simply as they waited for Kakashi to show Naruto would casually ask Sasuke what he thought of her. Since she had arrived early she had picked the perfect place to hide near the bridge. Far enough away that hopefully Sasuke wouldn't sense her, but close enough that she could still hear. As the meeting time approached Sasuke showed up promptly as usual. Watching him dreamingly she thought as he assumed his usual pose of leaning against the railing of the bridge with his arms crossed, "_Wow, Sasuke's so cool. He makes even standing look so amazing_."

Arriving a few minutes late as usual Naruto came running up. Sakura assumed that must have perked Sasuke's curiosity a little as he expected Sakura to arrive before Naruto but apparently he didn't feel like commenting on it. Naruto looked a little nervous and for a moment looked like he was going to back out of their deal. Sakura was sending malicious thoughts his way, which he must have sensed as he gave a small shiver.

Feeling the black specter of death bearing down on him Naruto said, "Hey Sasuke."

"What is it?" Sasuke responded turning his head the bare minimum necessary to look at Naruto.

"Well I was just wondering, what do you think of Sakura?"

"Hn," Sasuke replied looking away.

"Hey come on seriously," Naruto said stepping in front of him.

"Why do you care what I think of here?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"_I don't really_," Naruto thought but said, "I just want to know."

"Fine," Sasuke said with a shrug of his shoulders. "The truth is I find her and all the girls like her annoying." In the bushes Sakura gasped but it got worse as he continued, "I wish they would all leave me alone as they merely serve as distractions to my goals. What's worse is they can't even get a clue and realize they are all too pathetic for me to even consider them for one day helping me restore my clan. Does that answer your question?"

Naruto was glaring at him but merely nodded. He caught Sakura taking off from the bushes she had been hiding in behind Sasuke on the riverbank. Naruto began walking off of the bridge but was stopped by Sasuke saying, "Now I have a question for you."

Turning Naruto said, "What is it?"

"How did a dead-last loser like you learn a clone jutsu as advanced as the one you used yesterday?"

"I studied," Naruto said before walking away.

Kakashi in a nearby tree watched his team's dynamics before disappearing deciding to let the little drama unfold a little further before showing up for training today.

* * *

Sakura found a quiet spot to cry, which happened to be the park where Ino and her had first met. Wrapping her arms around her knees she pulled them up to her chest before lowering her head and letting her tears flow. "_I suppose I deserve this for what I told Naruto the other day_," Sakura thought miserably as she replayed all the things Sasuke had said.

"Hey," Naruto said walking up to her.

Looking up from her knees she saw Naruto standing in front of her with his hands in his pocket looking uncomfortable. "Please leave me alone," she said despondently before lowering her head back down. However instead of leaving Naruto sat next to her. Picking her head up she glared at him but it softened after a moment before she said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Naruto asked generally perplexed.

"For what I said to you," Sakura replied, "I said almost the exact same thing about you that Sasuke said about me."

Naruto merely said, "Oh," before turning to look away from her.

"That's it, aren't you going to say I deserve this?" Sakura asked staring at the blonde a little surprised since she might have if their situations had been reversed.

"You didn't deserve it Sakura," Naruto replied earnestly. Sakura looked at him with disbelief before he clarified his point saying, "I mean what you said to me was true I suppose. You never really hid that you thought it was annoying when I would ask you for dates in class. So I guess I can see why you would say I was trying to come between you and Sasuke. But the bastard was way out of line with what he said to you."

"Why?" Sakura asked letting the fact that Naruto had called Sasuke a bastard slide something she would have clobbered him for a half-hour earlier.

"Because when has he ever said anything to you about how you acted?" Naruto replied. "All he ever did was stare at you guys whenever you would ask him for a date. Then he'd make that annoying 'Hn' sound before turning to stare straight ahead or to walk away." To prove his point Naruto stared at her in a fair approximation of Sasuke before making an 'Hn' sound and staring away from her.

Sakura giggled slightly feeling a little better, but said, "Still I should have realized that I was being annoying."

"Ah you probably just thought he was being cool, Sakura," Naruto said waving what she said off causing her to blush as that would generally be her thought after being brushed off. Staring at Naruto in a new light she thought, "_I guess he knows me better than I thought_." Which prompted her to ask, "Naruto, why do you keep asking me out?"

"Well because I like you," he said scratching his cheek.

"But why, all I ever did was belittle you?"

"Ah it doesn't matter…" Naruto said looking away embarrassed.

"Please tell me," Sakura asked.

"Well because you're beautiful. I know you don't like your forehead, but it really is charming and you have the most amazing green eyes." Taking a deep breath he added, "And I guess because I sensed we were a lot alike."

"What do you mean?" Sakura said not offended like she thought she would be.

Figuring he had nothing to lose he said, "Well I guess I just sensed you were desperate for recognition too."

"What do you mean?" she asked but Naruto changed the subject saying, "Anyway you are looking at things from the wrong prospective. I mean if you want to capture Sasuke's heart you have a leg up on your competition."

Not really caring as she wanted to know what Naruto had meant but she played along asking, "What are you talking about?"

"Well all your other rivals still probably have the same misconception about Sasuke that you did, and Sasuke pretty much said what you were doing wrong so now you have a chance to correct it. Right?"

"Yeah…" Sakura answered but thought, "_What about your feelings Naruto? Are you giving up_?" However that didn't fit with what she knew about the blonde. Suddenly it hit her, "_He's trying to cheer me up by helping me with Sasuke_." Feelings of gratitude as well as something else she couldn't define swelled up within her so she said, "Thanks Naruto."

Smiling Naruto said, "We'll train extra hard today and before you know it Sasuke will only have eyes for you. Believe it!"

However for some reason that thought didn't fill her with the same elation as it would have before. Naruto though didn't seem to notice as he helped her to her feet and the pair returned to the bridge to wait on their sensei.

Watching them leave Kakashi thought, "_I wonder if he realized that he used close to the same line as the one that you used to tell me made Kushina fall in love with you sensei_?"

* * *

Sakura watched Naruto head off on his own after training again. Although she had been working hard the past week it felt like she was standing still compared to Sasuke and even Naruto. Granted Naruto still screwed up from time to time, but she believed it had more to do with his own competition with Sasuke then any idiocy on his part. When he got into one of his moods he didn't really concentrate on what he was doing as much as he should.

Today had been a perfect example as he had almost fallen off of a water fall while picking trash out of the river because he was too busy watching what Sasuke was doing. Luckily Sasuke had saved him but it only made matters worse. As Naruto sulked deciding to prove himself the next time, which of course meant he would screw up in a repeating cycle.

For Sakura shinobi life was falling far short of her romantic fantasies she used to have growing up. Training would generally start late afternoon since Kakashi was perpetually late. It would consist mainly of sparing and although Sasuke was easily the best of the three Naruto was making great strides. Not to mention he was completely inexhaustible, which meant by the end of the three hour session Sasuke would be on the defensive as Naruto kept coming.

It didn't fit with the Naruto that she knew from the academy. Although that wasn't entirely correct since Naruto had tried but when he grew bored and started to misbehave only Iruka had ever really cared enough to try and rein him in. Maybe had the other instructors been more on the ball Naruto would have been giving Sasuke a run for his money more often.

It just raised more and more questions which really bothered her and was why she was once again following him as he made his way through the village. Sakura noticed again how everybody went out of their way not to notice Naruto which she felt should be a difficult thing to do since the kid was dressed from head to toe in orange. A stray memory flashed in front of her of a young Naruto crying in a market place alone and what made it all the more potent was nobody stopped to ask why. She had been with her mother and had tried to stop but had simply been pulled along leaving the boy alone.

Naruto once again made his way to the ramen stand where he chatted and ate with the owners and operators. He then headed home to his apartment where she watched the light stay on for an hour before turning off probably to get some sleep.

Heading home Sakura couldn't really explain her sudden interest in her blonde teammate. But it was definitely there as she wondered why his life was so lonely. Granted his pranks could be annoying but they were for the most part harmless. And she couldn't get what the young woman that ran the ramen stand said out of her mind about his having a heavy burden. From time to time she could see that something weighed Naruto down, but she was positive whatever it was it was something he had just learned as she couldn't ever really remember seeing him looking so serious before.

But a blush adorned her cheeks as she conceded that she was too busy chasing after Sasuke to notice him. But the blushed intensified as she remembered the beautiful things that Naruto had said about her eyes and forehead. Replaying the event at the bench again she was surprised that her memory replaced Sasuke with Naruto. Just as she was surprised to learn that the same feelings of giddiness that she had felt during the original incident were still there.

She figured it was because she knew that Naruto had truly meant them, which made her wonder why Naruto hadn't asked her on any dates recently. She realized why a moment later and felt her hand come up to her chest as it clenched with emotion as a result of her understanding. He was stepping aside for her happiness. He was doing what she had always wanted him to do during the academy, to leave her alone to pursue Sasuke.

Sakura returned home to get some sleep of her own figuring it would be another long day tomorrow. She had a dream of her two teammates and was surprised by how real it felt. In the dream she saw her two teammates walking ahead of her getting further and further away. She ran to catch up but no matter how fast she ran she couldn't catch up getting frustrated she finally called out to them to wait, much as she expected only one of them turned to listen.

* * *

Kakashi smiled as he watched his team do the D-ranked mission of doing chores on a nearby farm. Kakashi had been pleased with Naruto today although he had been worried at first as the blonde had a habit of screwing up. He had been more mindful of him after Naruto's mistake had cost him a day's pay when the boy had destroyed a garden of priceless herbs because he had thought they were weeds and wanted to outperform Sasuke. As a result the Third Hokage had docked him seeing as he believed it was Kakashi's job to make sure such mishaps didn't happen. He wasn't mad at Naruto as the boy reminded him too much of Obito to make that a possibility, but he had been annoyed.

However today when Naruto was about to get ramped up into another of his must beat Sasuke moods, Sakura had approached him and gently admonished him. Although he didn't hear what she had said it had done the trick as Naruto visibly calmed and went about doing his tasks in a more thoughtful manner. Watching the pink-haired girl struggle with a bag of feed for the livestock, Kakashi knew she was probably berating herself, since both of her teammates were still going strong. Finally she couldn't hold it anymore dropping the bag. Sasuke had noticed but didn't stop repairing the fence he was working on, but Naruto who was painting a barn did and created a clone to continue his chore so he could walk over to her.

He was about to pick it up when Sakura said, "I can do it Naruto."

"Don't worry about it Sakura," Naruto replied picking it up, "I don't mind helping."

"But…"

"Besides," he interrupted kindly, "Because of your advice I'm actually almost done with my list instead of struggling to keep up. So take it easy and come back when you are rested."

Sakura thanked him before moving towards a tree to rest in the shade. Sitting down she admitted it felt good to rest. She was seeing improvements but she still felt like she was standing still in comparison.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Kakashi as he said, "Taking a load off?"

"I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei, I'll get right back to work," Sakura said moving to get up.

"Relax Sakura," Kakashi said, chuckling a little, "that is what Naruto wanted after all." His amusement raised by the slightly embarrassed look that appeared on Sakura's face but he put her at ease as he told her, "Actually I wanted to know what you said to Naruto. As I'm sure you've noticed he can be a bit of a handful but today's he's been rather calm."

"I didn't say anything really Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, "I just said he would probably do better if he didn't worry so much what Sasuke was doing."

"Well it seems to be working," Kakashi said as Naruto was feeding the livestock. Crossing his arms he added, "But maybe you should consider the same thing."

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked surprised.

"Well, why didn't you stop when you were tired?"

"I…I didn't want to be a burden," Sakura said still disappointed in herself.

"Does Naruto look burdened?"

Staring at the blonde boy as he put a little feed in his hand to feed one of the animals, Sakura shook her head and said, "He looks happy."

"I'm sure he is," Kakashi said giving an eye-smile at the scene, "It's a nice change."

Sakura looked up only to see that her sensei had taken off, leaving her to wonder if Kakashi knew what it was about Naruto that people didn't like. He obviously knew that Naruto was or had been lonely in the past if what he had just said was any indication. "_But what changed_?" Sakura asked herself. "_We did_," she thought almost feeling like she wanted to smack her forehead, "_Sasuke and I have acknowledged him_." Granted, Sasuke and he still didn't get along, but even then their rivalry seemed to have meaning to Naruto. As to her, she had been trying to be nicer to the Blonde although she still had to rain punishment down upon his skull from time to time. But even then he would look up at her rubbing the knot on his head smiling. As if, even though she was mad at him it was enough that she was looking at him. It was a rather heady feeling for her to know she mattered that much to somebody.

Feeling rested she got up to go finish her share of the chores as she knew otherwise Naruto may do them all and she wanted to contribute to the team as well.

* * *

Naruto was happy as he made his way to his home for the night having convinced the Old Man to give his team a C-ranked mission. The bastard that he was supposed to guard was kind of a letdown since he had insulted his Team immediately upon laying eyes on them. He was going to go home and pack as it was finally his time to shine he felt since his training was showing some real progress. In truth, he owed it to Sakura since she would often calm him down when he was getting worked up about Sasuke.

Sakura was surprising him as well, not that she was improving as he had no doubt she was a talented kunoichi, but that she didn't seem to be trying to get closer to Sasuke. But Naruto supposed she had some sort of plan in regards to that. She had been quiet after Kakashi had dismissed them telling them to meet at the gate tomorrow morning to escort Tazuna to his home in Wave. He wondered if the C-ranked mission was bothering her, but before he could ask she had taken off probably to get ready for the mission.

Thinking of the pink-haired filled him with sadness since he had vowed to stop getting in her way as she pursued Sasuke. So although he felt closer to her, he refused to parlay that into his own desire for her. Maybe that was why Sakura seemed more at ease around him, but of course it was a semi curse to him as well. However all that mattered was that at the end of the day Sakura was happy. Figuring if that was true he should try and find out why she was so down he decided to put getting Ramen on hold in favor of finding out why she had been down in order to help her overcome it.

* * *

Sakura was sitting on a bench with a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen having acquired a taste for it from her time spying on her teammate however it remained in her lap uneaten. "Naruto you idiot," she thought without hostility. Although she wasn't sure if she was ready for a C-ranked mission a part of her had enjoyed the way Naruto had talked to the Third hating the menial tasks that they were often assigned.

However while she felt more confident about her skills, mainly because Naruto often told her how well she was doing. She still didn't know how comfortable she felt about operating outside of Konoha. It would undoubtedly be a whole new world in a way since they were operating far away from the safety of the village. It felt more real somehow.

But in truth her thoughts weren't entirely directed towards the mission but the boy who had landed them the mission. In the few weeks Team Seven had been together he had stopped asking her out, but never stopped helping to motivate her. Her realization that Naruto was stepping aside for her happiness made her realize that Naruto was truly amazing. How many other boys would stick around helping a girl they had become convinced would never return their feelings? "Maybe that's why I felt like ramen," she thought since it seemed to be all Naruto ate.

While the food brought her comfort much as the boy it was associated with she felt like she was at a crossroads. Basically she was going to decide if Sasuke was even worth having. Outside of the few "Hn's" that she had managed to elicit from him or the few times he needed to talk to fulfill a mission Sasuke remained as distant as ever. Knowing that after years of fawning over him all he thought of her as, was as an annoying fangirl really bothered her. Even if he came around, she had the feeling that it would only be once she had proved herself in some way. What would that say about whatever relationship they started that he was only with her because she finally lived up to his expectations of what the sire of his children should be. It made her feel a little hollow especially in light of Naruto's selflessness. He was simply going to stand aside and let Sasuke claim the results of his labors, in a sense, as she doubted she would be nearly as prepared for the upcoming mission if Naruto wasn't there to pick her up when she felt down or to push her when she felt like giving up.

"Well, well if it isn't forehead," Ino said pulling the girl from her thoughts.

"Ino-pig," she replied more out of habit than anything to do with there rivalry, "What do you want?"

"I want to know where Sasuke is," Ino replied, "I can't let you monopolize all his time."

"I don't know where he is. We have a C-ranked mission tomorrow, he's probably at home packing for it," Sakura said before trying to return to her thoughts.

"What you already have a C-ranked mission? No way, it must be because Sasuke's on your team, but don't think that means you're going to become his girlfriend forehead because of that."

"Whatever," Sakura said annoyed, "I told you where I think he's at, so why don't you leave me alone pig."

Ino was about to do just that till it dawned on her. Sakura had told her where she thought Sasuke was. Figuring it was a trick she said, "Nice try forehead but do you really think I'm that stupid. You tell me he's at home while you go off to where he really is well not today sister."

"I'm not trying to trick you Ino," Sakura said hoping using her former best friends name without the insult would help convince Ino to leave.

Ino seemed to sense that Sakura was being truthful but was conflicted. The part of her that had reached out to the girl that day when she was crying in the park couldn't resist asking, "What's wrong."

"What do you care? I told you where Sasuke's at go bother him," Sakura said not wanting to talk about it even with her former best friend.

Sitting next to the girl who glared at her Ino said, "I'm still not convinced you aren't trying to trick me."

A sad smile appeared on Sakura's face before she said, "Yeah, I guess I can understand that."

"Seriously Sakura you're beginning to freak me out," Ino said dropping her nickname for the girl.

"Ino, why do you want Sasuke?" Sakura finally asked surprising Ino.

"Well because he's handsome, popular, and only the greatest ninja to come out of the academy this year," Ino said ticking her reasons off on her fingers.

"But, what about him as a person?"

"What do you mean?" Ino asked confused.

Sighing Sakura said, "I mean is he a good person? Does he care about anyone but himself?"

"I-I…" Ino stuttered for a moment, while thinking but unable to answer asked, "Where's this coming from?"

"I know what Sasuke thinks about me. He finds me annoying and clueless," Sakura said to which Ino almost patted her back telling her how sorry she was. But the part of her that wanted Sasuke for herself did a little victory dance, till the pinkette said, "He thinks the same of you and every other girl after him."

Ino immediately stood up saying, "Oh I knew it this is some kind of trick very clever Sakura. Convince me that he hates all of us and then move in yourself."

"That's not it at all," Sakura said angrily wondering if she had truly been that obnoxious but sadly felt she probably was. Deflating at the thought she said, "You know what forget it. Ask him yourself what he thinks of you. I don't care."

Sakura stood to leave not wanting to argue in circles with the blonde. But stopped when Ino asked, "Is that what you did?"

"No," Sakura answered. The pink-haired girl relayed everything that he had said about her and the other girls after him. Ino still looked conflicted about whether to believe Sakura or not but when her former friend said, "You want to know what really has been bothering me? It's that if he really felt that way he could have said something. I think on some level he enjoys the attention while thinking us all as pathetic losers for giving it."

"The bastard," Sakura added raising her hand to her lips as if she couldn't believe that she had said it. "I mean I can't even remember why I began to like him now. I gave up my first friend, let my physical training slide, and for what so he could brush off my feelings like they didn't even matter. When all it would have taken was a simple, not interested, or... I don't know something. Instead he had to be mister cool and simply ignore us which really should have been a clue, but I was too dense to notice. What's worse is I was doing the same…"

"_Thing_," she finished in her head thinking of her own treatment of Naruto sadly. "_I'm not much better_," but she smiled slightly remembering that according to Naruto she was simply because she hadn't held back about how annoying she had found his antics. However unlike her who having been told she was annoying was thinking about giving up, he kept coming back. No that wasn't exactly true he was stopping in order to respect what he believed was her wishes of being with Sasuke. Again she felt her heart clench at the emotions that suddenly seemed overwhelming.

Ino was about to ask why her Sakura had trailed off and was staring off into space but was beaten to it by a shout of, "Sakura." The voice seemed to pull Sakura out of her trance and Ino noticed a smile appear on her face for a moment.

"What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked, Ino temporarily forgotten.

"Well you seemed sort of down, I wanted to make sure you're alright," Naruto said while looking around smelling the delectable aroma of Ichiraku.

"Thanks Naruto," Sakura said kindly surprising Ino who felt as if she had been forgotten. "I guess I was worried about the mission."

"I'm sorry; I suppose I shouldn't have pushed the Old Man into giving it to us."

"No, don't worry about it Naruto," Sakura replied placing a hand on Naruto's arm in a gesture that had become familiar to the two over the weeks but surprised the hell out of Ino. "I mean The Hokage did ask Kakashi-sensei, who said we are ready. I'm just a little worried I'm going to hold you and Sasuke back."

"Don't worry Sakura," Naruto said sincerely, "You're going to do fine." Scratching the back of his head and noticing the rapidly cooling ramen he said, "Hey are you going to eat that?"

Seeing that Naruto's gaze was focused on the forgotten ramen she said, "No, you can have it." The smile that split his face made Sakura feel happier than she had been moments before.

Sitting he gulped it down in record time saying, "You should have said you like Ichiraku, Sakura. It's my favorite I have all sorts of free vouchers maybe we can…" The way he trailed off made Sakura frown especially since she figured he was going to ask her for a date. Not picking up on it Naruto said hurriedly, "Well don't worry Sakura everything will turn out just fine. I better get going and pack for the mission. I'll see you tomorrow, bye," he shouted the last sentence over his shoulder as he took off.

Sakura watched him go, Ino still forgotten, as she found herself wishing he had finished his thought about going together as the few minutes he had been there really had lightened her load. Ino for the most part was trying to decide if she was in some bizarre mirror world. An upside down world, where Sakura almost seemed sad to see Naruto go or had shared her meal with him. Not to mention the things she had been saying about Sasuke. She pinched herself giving a little yelp which made Sakura focus on her again.

"I have to get going too, Ino. See you later," Sakura said walking away.

Ino watched Sakura before remembering the day Sakura had told her and all the other girls that she had liked Sasuke. Ino remembered she had been angry but not because of whom she had said she liked but the reason for it. Remembering the reason she blurted, "You were trying to fit in?"

"Pardon," Sakura asked confused at Ino's sudden outburst.

"The reason you picked Sasuke was because you were trying to fit in," Ino said remembering how she thought Sakura was simply trying to blend in again by hiding her feelings. "You picked him because everyone else did."

Sakura stared at her for a moment before saying, "Maybe your right. It doesn't matter anymore. You can have him." Saying that made Sakura feel a lot better, maybe Ino had a point maybe she had picked Sasuke because he was safe. As the girl with the giant forehead she didn't want to pick a boy that may have resulted in her being teased again. She couldn't say for certain but as she walked away from the stunned Ino she had meant what she had said about it didn't matter. She had wasted enough time chasing after Sasuke. It was better to focus her favor on someone who wanted her for her, not for what she might become in the future or years from now would feel she was finally good enough.

Although Naruto certainly fit the bill she couldn't say that she was positive she wanted to be with him as anything other than a friend. But maybe this upcoming mission could give her a glimpse of what Naruto was like over an extended period of time. After all thus far she had only been given glimpses of the depth that Naruto possessed, maybe this mission would give her more and help answer some of the lingering questions she had.

Ino watched Sakura walk away still shocked that in effect her rival had thrown in the towel. Just as the girl was disappearing out of sight Ino pinched herself one last time to make sure she wasn't dreaming. When the world didn't fade away she guessed she was still awake, but the euphoria that she expected never came. Instead she felt rather hollow was it because Sakura simply quit, that in the end her charms hadn't been the cause? Or was it because of what Sakura said about Sasuke thinking of her as a nuisance? In the end she decided to simply worry about it later in favor of heading home. Since she felt with Sakura out of the race, when she came to a conclusion Sasuke was as good as hers, if she still wanted him that was.

* * *

The next day came a lot sooner than Sakura wanted but she decided to face it as a proud kunoichi. She was a little self conscious since last night she had decided on some changes. She wasn't surprised that Sasuke stared at her raising an eyebrow but refused to comment nor was she shocked when she heard the surprised, "Sakura your hair."

"Do you like it?" Sakura asked Naruto holding a hand up to her shorter hair.

"Well sure," Naruto said not sure what to say as although he always found her hair beautiful never really thought about if he preferred it long or short.

"Do you think it's better like this?"

Wishing that Sakura would stop putting him on the spot he said, "No matter how it's cut Sakura is always beautiful," figuring that would stop her from asking more. It did, but he wasn't sure why her cheeks were getting red.

Tazuna showed up before Sakura calmed herself enough to say anything so instead of talking in front of the old man they settled into silence. Kakashi showed up five minutes late but promptly got them moving towards wave. Sakura watched Naruto who seemed to be the most excited since he had never been out of the village before unable to keep the smile from her face. While she hadn't cut her hair to impress Naruto it made her feel better to know that he didn't care if she wore her hair a certain way. As it simply proved that as far as Naruto was concerned he liked everything about not just one facet. Even the things she had considered ugly were part of her charm according to Naruto.

As he walked away ahead of the others his hands behind his head she thought to herself, "_I wish I saw what it was that you see in me Naruto. But you know what; I'm beginning to see something special in you too_."

Smiling as Naruto started an argument with the bridge builder Sakura followed behind confident that with Naruto around everything would turn out fine.


	2. Chapter 2 The Mysterious Uzumaki

**An:** Wow, thirty reviews for one chapter a new record for me. Thank you everyone that took the time to leave one. I hope I continue to meet your expectations your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit**

**Chapter 2: The Mysterious Uzumaki**

Sakura didn't know what to make of Naruto sometimes. As they had made their way to Wave they had been ambushed by two Mist shinobi. Naruto had froze, which turned out to be not that big a deal as Kakashi who they had thought had been killed ended up saving the day after Sasuke had managed to get in a few attacks against the opponents.

She hadn't been much better though, only managing to get in front of Tazuna as one of the shinobi had made for the bridge builder before their sensei saved the day. Afterwards, Sasuke had asked if Naruto was scared before calling him a scaredy cat which naturally riled Naruto up to know end. Kakashi had also contributed a little by mentioning how he didn't expect Naruto to freeze up. But had calmed him by telling him he had probably been poisoned so shouldn't move.

Sakura wasn't sure if Kakashi was telling the truth or simply playing around with Naruto as the jounin hadn't seemed too worried and instead confronted Tazuna about the assassins. Telling the bridge builder that they were operating outside the scope of their mission he threatened to take them back to Konoha. Sadly Sakura realized she had probably also contributed to making Naruto feel bad by trying to use his wounded hand to justify going back to the Leaf instead of admitting to her own fears.

While Kakashi had agreed, Naruto had pulled out a kunai and then stabbed himself in the wound in order to let the poison out. Needless to say she had been shocked by his actions, but was also surprised at how serious he sounded when he told Tazuna that he would protect him. But moments later he was moving around like a fool again after Kakashi told him he could bleed to death. After binding Naruto's hand and listening to Tazuna's story Kakashi had agreed to continue the mission.

Naruto seemed calmer as they walked occasionally looking to his bandaged hand like remembering some promise to himself. She switched her attention to Sasuke who looked as calm as ever. She had been surprised when Sasuke had appeared in front of her when the assassin moved on the bridge builder. A part of her almost believed it meant that maybe Sasuke was coming around to her charms. But she supposed it simply was he still viewed her as useless and needed protection. It sort of galled her except he had been right. After moving in front of Tazuna she had really no other plan of attack.

Watching Naruto who was still up in front of the group she decided to go talk to and apologize to him.

* * *

Naruto still felt useless after everything that went down. Glancing once more at his wounded hand he repeated his promise of never backing down or losing to Sasuke again to himself. He realized a moment later that in a sense he already broke it as he was stepping aside in the quest for Sakura's heart. But he supposed that was okay, since Sakura's happiness was more important then he desire to best Sasuke.

It had hurt a little when Sakura had said they should go back because of him. While she had sounded worried it had just compounded his feelings of uselessness. So caught up in his thoughts he had missed hearing his name the first time Sakura had said it. Replying the second he said, "Huh…what's up Sakura."

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry Naruto."

Setting aside his more pensive concerns he said happily, "What do you have to be sorry about Sakura?"

"For what I said about going back to Konoha because of your hand," Sakura replied. Naruto looked like he was going to wave off her apology as he often seemed to do, but before he could she said, "I should have been honest."

"Honest about what?"

"About why I wanted to go back and it had nothing to do with your hand," Sakura said. She smiled internally as Naruto's face scrunched up as it often did when he was confused so she made herself clear, "I'm afraid. This mission has already moved up to a B and I don't think I'm ready."

Naruto to her surprise instead of trying to make her feel good by telling her not to worry said, "Yeah, but you're probably more ready than me. At least you didn't freeze up."

Looking at Sakura seriously he said, "I don't know what's going to happen next Sakura. But I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Sakura couldn't explain why but she knew that Naruto would keep his promise no matter what happened. A part of her almost believed that even if he was seriously wounded he wouldn't allow himself to die until his promise was kept. She looked away wanting to say something along the same lines but couldn't find the resolve to make a promise like that. Instead she settled for a simple, "Thanks."

They walked side by side until they reached the Land of Fire's coast line. Before anyone could ask how they could get to Wave from there Tazuna said, "We'll wait here. I have a ride already arranged but we'll need to wait for the right conditions."

"Right conditions?" Sasuke asked curious.

"Everyone that helps me is taking a huge risk," Tazuna said. "Therefore we need to wait until early morning for the mist to form before he'll arrive."

"Fair enough," Kakashi said before ordering his team, "Sasuke gather some firewood. Sakura, Naruto, you'll set up camp while I'll keep an eye on our client."

While going about her task Sakura noticed that Naruto's bandage was getting dirty. Not wanting him to get an infection she finished setting up the last tent before calling Naruto over. He held up his hand telling her he'd be there in a moment before putting the finishing touches on the fire pit. "What is it Sakura?" he asked as he approached.

"Let's take a look at your hand," she said pulling out a few medical supplies.

Naruto sat cross-legged from her holding up his hand. Unwrapping it, Sakura did a double take as she didn't see a wound or even a hint of one. Looking at Naruto who was staring at her wondering why she was looking at his hand so intensely he said, "Um, Sakura…is everything alright?"

"Huh…Naruto your wound is gone," Sakura said in confusion.

"Okay good," he said moving to stand up. But he was pulled back down by Sakura who hadn't relinquished his hand.

Staring at the boy she said, "That isn't normal Naruto."

"Sure it is Sakura," Naruto said.

"No Naruto it isn't. I mean there isn't even a scab," Sakura said. Arriving at the only conclusion she could think of she asked, "Do you have a Kekkei Genkai?"

"A what?"

Shaking her head she said jokingly, "How did you ever graduate if you don't even know what that is?"

However despite her light tone. Something appeared in Naruto's face almost like a painful and happy memory all rolled up in one. As she watched Naruto's face she began to wonder just how did Naruto graduate? He failed the test after all as it was based on the clone jutsu his worst. But then when they had gathered a few days later for team assignments Naruto had been there and with a far more advanced clone jutsu. According to Kakashi it was a B-ranked one which genin normally weren't allowed to learn. He had needed to explain why when Sasuke had asked to be taught it. So how did Naruto know it?

She wanted to ask the boy himself but Naruto was proving to be amazingly tight lipped when it came to talking about himself. Outside of his desire to be Hokage and that he wanted people to acknowledge him; she didn't know much of anything about him. She supposed she could ask but she doubted she would get a straight answer. But maybe she could ask someone who knew him. The ramen stand owners might answer her if she went by asking about Naruto or maybe even Iruka-sensei.

The embarrassed sound of Naruto saying, "Sakura…"

Realizing she was zoning out she focused on Naruto. She wondered why his face was red till she realized she had been holding his hand the entire time. Dropping it like it was hot she felt her own cheeks flush before explaining what a Kekkei Genkai was. Upon hearing her explanation he said, "I don't think I have a Genkei Kaka, Sakura."

"A Kekkei Genkai," Sakura said repeating it with a small smile, but it faded when Naruto seemed to retreat in on himself with a frown. Was he thinking about why he healed so quickly? He seemed to come to a conclusion but apparently didn't feel like sharing. She wanted to know, yet how could she possible ask someone that for most of her life she put down that he could tell her his secret?

"Hey you two now's not the time to be staring at each other all lovey-dovey," Kakashi said teasingly causing both of them to blush again. Sakura looked up and noticed that his eye traveled to Naruto's unbandaged hand before moving to the supplies that she had intended to use on the wound. His eye then moved to her and although it was impossible for the genin to read the experienced jounin's masked face, she was confident that he was concerned about her noticing his wound was gone.

"_Does Kakashi know about Naruto's advanced healing_?" But as soon as she asked herself the question she realized he must have. As he had been staring at the wound right after Naruto had stabbed it. Had it already been healing then? Kakashi had seemed overly concerned as he had looked at it. Had he been surprised by the wound's disappearing? Furthermore why wasn't he commenting on it now? He obviously could see it was gone.

She was about to mention how weird it was but Kakashi beat her to the punch saying, "If you've finished setting camp, why don't you help Sasuke gather firewood."

"Okay Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said a little too quickly apparently glad for the excuse to get away from Sakura and her questions.

Sakura stood up a little less eagerly sending a look after Naruto before turning back to her sensei who was watching her closely. She wondered briefly if she asked him about Naruto whether or not would she get an answer but doubted it. What was worse was that she imagined the jounin would be able to lie to her so convincingly that she would ultimately believe whatever he told her. Deciding to ask people she could read better she nodded her acceptance to his request before moving off to search for some wood.

* * *

Naruto never felt so overpowered in his entire life as the mist rolled into the area as they stood around Tazuna to protect him from the shinobi that Kakashi called, Zabuza Momochi. He wondered how things had ended up like this. Granted Tazuna had admitted that he had pissed off a gangster named Gato, since his bridge was going to end the chokehold he had on the small country. But an actual Jounin on Jounin fight was nothing like what he imagined it would be. Just the man's presence had been enough to make him want to run home and bury his head under the covers. Only his recently made vow had kept him from doing so.

He did take some small measure of pride in knowing that Kakashi needed to comfort Sasuke. Looking away from his rival his eyes landed on Sakura who was shaking badly still despite Kakashi's words to protect his teammates. Reaching out for her hand he grabbed it giving it a gentle squeeze. Sakura focused on him for a moment and stopped shaking. He hoped it was because of the promise he made her.

Watching Kakashi fight Zabuza was incredible and really made him realize how far he had to go before he could even consider being made Hokage. When Kakashi was caught in the Water Prison he felt all hope drain from him. The clone that Zabuza formed easily batted him back knocking his headband loose. The clone then stepped on it causing Kakashi to shout for them to run from the water clone. Naruto almost did exactly that but remembering the wound that he had given himself and his vow abandoned that decision. After all, even if they ran, once Zabuza finished Kakashi even he knew that their odds of survival were low. Unless they abandoned Tazuna something he promised not to do.

Sasuke apparently came to the same conclusion charging in before Naruto could himself. Watching Sasuke being snatched out of the air in mid-attack almost broke Naruto resolve.

After tossing Sasuke away the clone said, "You call yourselves shinobi. You can only be called shinobi after bathing yourselves in the blood of your enemies. When your names been entered in my bingo book maybe then would you be worthy of the title shinobi. You're not shinobi so much as cowering children. Now hand over the bridge builder."

Naruto choose that moment to attack, but he didn't target the clone so much as what it stood on. He heard the worry in Sakura's voice as he closed with the clone but pressed on. He took the hit as expected but smiled upon feeling the comforting coolness of the faceplate of his headband. Standing he tied it around his head before saying, "Put this in your book. The future Hokage of the Leaf Naruto Uzumaki never backs down." Turning to Sasuke he whispered, "Sasuke I have a plan so listen up."

But before he could explain it the clone moved kicking Sasuke around several times. Naruto responded by creating dozens of shadow clones that all swarmed the menacing jounin. After throwing them all off Naruto tossed a windmill shuriken to Sasuke who spun and threw the one he pulled as well as the henged Naruto at the real Zabuza. Zabuza reacted as expected snatching the one out of the air before jumping over the second that changed back into Naruto who threw a kunai forcing Zabuza to dodge thus releasing Kakashi.

Sakura watched in awe as Kakashi and Zabuza began to battle once more. But she directed her gaze to Naruto who disappeared for a moment as the two water dragons clashed destroying each other. Breathing a little easier as he resurfaced spitting out some water and making for the shore. Retaking her position of defending Tazuna she thought, "_When did Naruto become so clever_?" It was just so surprising to see especially since he must have come up with it in mere moments. In the academy there were questions that outlined different scenarios but Naruto almost never passed them. Was it the danger that made him so much better at it? As it seemed impossible just how thought out his strategy had been and Zabuza fell into like a rank genin not the invincible jounin he had seemed to be moments ago.

Sakura watched as Kakashi hit Zabuza with a giant vortex of water which sent him flying until he ended up pressed against a tree. Kakashi threw several kunai at him that hit Zabuza along his arms and legs. Zabuza said something to Kakashi that she couldn't make out and it appeared that he responded. But then out of nowhere Zabuza was struck by two senbon killing him.

Naruto seemed the most upset about the sudden demise of the rogue ninja making Sakura wonder why. However she didn't have to wonder long as he began complaining about how strong the boy was that did it while he felt so useless. Kakashi appeased him telling Naruto that in the world of shinobi age didn't necessarily matter. He calmed, but she could tell it still bothered him. Yet before she could try to make him feel better after the Hunter-nin left, Kakashi collapsed forcing her to focus on more immediate concerns.

* * *

Tree climbing was easy for Sakura. It simply came natural to her. However the price for her skill was helping Kakashi watch the bridge builder which was boring. Meanwhile Naruto and Sasuke were still trying to get it down. Blowing out a bored sigh she tried not to think about the fact that Zabuza was probably still alive and if he was that meant that the hunter-nin was with him.

Despite the future danger she couldn't escape the fact that the mission was making Naruto more mysterious not less. The unexplained advanced healing, the sudden head for tactics, and simply why certain things like how he graduated made him nervous. She supposed the tactics shouldn't have been that surprising as some of his pranks had required some careful planning, but still the spur of the moment planning was pretty impressive. But the other two things were somehow connected of that she was sure.

Before she could dedicate any real brainpower to puzzling it out Kakashi said, "Why don't you take a break Sakura?"

"Sure thing Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said eager to escape the boring assignment if even for a little while. Making her way through the village she frowned seeing the state of the place. How anyone could force people to live in such squalor especially since Gato already had so much was beyond her. It made her glad they continued the mission despite the increased danger.

She decided to check in on Naruto to see if he had progressed any in his own tree climbing exercise. It made her smile when she thought about how he came and asked her for help. She had caught Sasuke looking her way when Naruto was in the process of asking, but she figured it would sting his pride too much to admit she was better than him at something to the point that he needed to ask for her help.

Reaching the area, she stopped out of sight although not sure why. Peeking around a tree she saw Naruto lying on his back. A part of her was worried he had knocked himself unconscious as he tended to land on his head a lot. However Sasuke who was making his way towards Naruto didn't seem to be concerned.

Sasuke stopped at Naruto's head before saying, "Earlier, you asked Sakura for some tips."

Sitting up Naruto rubbed the back of his head saying, "What of it?"

"What did she say?" Sasuke asked looking away from the blond.

"I'm not telling," Naruto said in a snotty tone of voice that made her smile, especially due to the way Sasuke's head snapped down glaring at the blonde. What Naruto said next made Sakura feel gratitude well up in her heart, "Ask Sakura yourself? I mean really, do you think I could explain it better than her?"

"Hn," Sasuke said before walking away back to his own tree.

Sakura idly wondered if she appeared would Sasuke as her. But she decided against it as she was sure that Naruto may ask for the Uchiha. Walking away she once again marveled at how selfless Naruto could be as he was now actively trying to get her and Sasuke together. It really, really made her wonder what it had been that had kept her chasing after the Uchiha as he wouldn't even ask her for a little help.

An image of her future life if she married Sasuke floated before her. She imagined herself doing all the housework being a stay at home wife while Sasuke continued to be a ninja. She'd dot on their children of course, but she could see Sasuke coming home from a mission and giving her a kiss on the cheek. He'd then move to the kitchen table and ask when dinner was due to be ready. It felt so lifeless to her. Even the kiss had felt like he did it because it was expected, not because he felt anything for her. Thinking of the kids that Sasuke would almost certainly insist on she could see them being respectful and wanting their dad's attention but he'd probably focus his attention solely on making sure they were competent shinobi. Watching the family around the dinner table, Sakura Uchiha found it lacking somehow. Almost like a painting of what a family should be, but lacking the warmth. Sitting next to her husband he'd politely thank her for making dinner before eating. When he was finished, he'd show his children some ninjutsu before retiring for the night. Giving her a polite goodnight, he'd sleep in his own bed before the day would repeat again the next day.

She didn't want that kind of life, at least not anymore. She tried to imagine her life if she fell for someone more like Naruto to which her imagination conjured up an older Naruto. She was surprised that it showed her one taller than her and if her imagination was anything to go by he'd grow up to be amazingly handsome. Once again her husband would come back from a mission only this time it was Naruto. She wasn't sure if she had given up being a ninja as she was wearing a variation of what she normally wore. But she was standing in front of the sink washing some dishes. Naruto approached her placing a kiss on her forehead knowing she preferred it to a simple kiss on her cheek. Upon hearing their dad was home the kids would come running into the kitchen latching onto Naruto's legs. He picked up the youngest before smiling at the other two her imagination showed her she'd have. They gathered around the table banging silverware on the table asking for dinner jokingly. Despite the less refined and more chaotic environment Sakura Uzumaki didn't seem to mind giving her family a smile and seemed to be way happier than her Uchiha counterpart had seemed as she placed takeout from Ichiraku on the table, somehow knowing the small ramen stand would be a mainstay in the family's dinning habit. Sitting next to her husband he gave her a kiss and had to admonish him for getting a little to fresh in front of the kids, but didn't truly mind. Digging in she watched the children eat much the same way their father did and while a little concerned it seemed her future family would have no manners found it somehow fitting. After dinner Naruto would play with the children, he'd teach them some ninjutsu, but it would be more akin to play then actual lessons. Then after the children were asleep Naruto would take her up to the bed they shared were he would…

Sakura stopped her imagination there wondering if she was secretly a pervert considering where her fantasy was heading. However it did tell her what she needed to know, which was simply a life with Naruto wouldn't be such a bad thing. Granted her portrayal of Sasuke may be colored by her feelings of hurt at what he said about her. But it was simply too easy to picture Sasuke that way now. Not that he wouldn't care or love for his children, but that he would never show it. On the other hand, she could just as easily see Naruto acting the way her fantasy showed her. She had really enjoyed the short glimpse of a family like the one she imagined she could have with Naruto. A family, were even if he became Hokage, he wouldn't be too busy to spend time with his family or take himself too seriously were he couldn't act like a big kid himself. That made up her mind for her at least as far as what she needed to tell Naruto and that was to stop trying to get Sasuke to like her. She wanted a future filled with smiles and laughter not calm stoicism.

* * *

Sakura awoke a little earlier than was necessary, but since Naruto hadn't come back to Tazuna's the night before after hearing the tale of Inari's father. She was a little worried even if Kakashi didn't seemed concerned as he was confident Zabuza would need at least a week to recover. Heading to where Naruto and Sasuke were training the day before, she saw the blonde talking to a beautiful girl in a pink kimono.

She couldn't believe how angry she got at seeing Naruto talking to the girl. Stopping down on her jealousy she called out, "Naruto…"

The blonde turned waving cheerfully to her. Running up to him she said, "Are you trying to catch a cold staying out here all night?"

The girl chuckled before saying, "He must be precious to you."

Sakura blushed in embarrassment but said, "He is my precious teammate." She caught the look of surprise on Naruto's face but ignored it asking, "And who would you be?" Although she tried to be civil her tone did have a hint of challenge to it making her wonder if it was related to the jealousy she felt.

The girl smiled perhaps sensing her reason before saying, "As I was telling your precious friend. My name is Haku and I'm here searching for herbs for a friend of mine." Standing the girl said, "Well I have what I need. " Walking away Haku stopped saying, "Oh by the way, you need not fear me stealing him a way, I'm a boy."

Blushing she turned to see Naruto looking around. Confused she asked, "What are you looking for Naruto?"

"Well I though the bastard was here when she…I mean he, said you didn't need to worry about someone getting stolen away," Naruto said obviously thinking the boy had been talking about Sasuke.

"Idiot," she said shaking her head before playful adding, "How would he even know about Sasuke?"

Shrugging his shoulders Naruto said, "I don't know. I thought all girls had a thing for the bastard so you must communicate telepathically."

Embarrassed of her past actions Sakura said, "Actually I came out here to tell you something."

"Oh yeah," Naruto said getting up a little wobbly.

Helping to steady him Sakura grabbed a hold of him before saying, "Come on; let's get you back for some breakfast."

Allowing Sakura to lead him away he asked, "So what did you need to tell me?"

"I know you told Sasuke to ask me on how to climb the trees using chakra."

"Did he?"

"No," Sakura said, "but that isn't the point."

"I was just trying…"

"I know Naruto, and I appreciate it," Sakura said giving him a smile. "But I don't want you to do it anymore."

"Why not," Naruto asked, "Is it interfering with your plan to capture his attention? Wait a second. I got it. You're playing hard to get. You're ignoring him to make him see you differently from the other girls."

"That's not it at all," Sakura said looking forward, "It's simply; I don't want someone so cold."

She could see out of the corner of her eye Naruto looking at her in surprise and his eyes couldn't exactly hide the hope just behind them. Not exactly ready to start accepting dates from him yet either she said, "Anyway for right now, I think I'll just concentrate on being the best kunoichi I can be."

Naruto seemed to get the message looking ahead himself, saying a simple, "Okay."

Sakura smiled. But a part of her, the piece that often spoke for her when she hid her emotions said, "_You chicken. Just accept you feel different about him and tell him to ask you out_."

"_No_," Sakura said to her inner self, "_Naruto is special but I want to know more about him_."

"_What's to know_," Inner Sakura said, "_He likes you and finds you attractive, forehead_." Inner Sakura made her point by pointing to her own large forehead. A little red dot appeared on it which Sakura took to represent the kiss he had planted there. Remembering it caused Sakura's cheeks to flush causing the dot on inner Sakura's head to grow bigger.

Naruto asking, "Are you okay Sakura?" cut into her mental argument.

"Yeah I'm fine," Sakura said still a little flustered.

"Okay, I was getting worried you were getting all red in the face like Hinata."

"I'm fine I promise," Sakura said.

But Inner Sakura said, "_Are you now? But your problem is you think you have all the time in the world to make this decision. Don't forget about Hinata_."

Confused Sakura asked her inner self, "_What about her_?"

It wasn't words she received in response but images of Hinata blushing, whenever Naruto came near, or the many times the girl sat near him during class at the academy. Realizing what it was her inner self was getting at she said, "_She likes him_."

"_Exactly_," Inner Sakura said as if talking to an idiot, "_And the only reason she hasn't made a move is because she's so shy. Not to mention you saw how hot you imagined Naruto to be when he gets older. Add onto that how good he makes us feel about ourselves and the question is. Do you really want to miss out on that?_"

Sakura didn't have an answer so Inner Sakura ended their conversation with a, "_Coward_," before going silent.

Reaching the house Naruto began gobbling down breakfast but Sakura wasn't feeling all that hungry all of the sudden. Had she made a mistake in letting Naruto think she still wasn't interested in him? She had little doubt that Naruto might eventually become a heartthrob. After all, she had only been with him a few weeks and he had effectively made her do a complete one eighty on how she felt about him. However she reasoned now wasn't the time to be thinking about such things as they were in the midst of a deadly mission. However once they got back she planned to think about it hard.

* * *

"Stupid Inari," Naruto thought as the boy had leeched all the joy he had felt in climbing to the top of the tree. Although Sasuke had also reached the pinnacle he had still felt great about his accomplishment especially since with Sakura's advice he hadn't worn himself into the ground to do it. Then Inari had started complaining. He hadn't meant to sound like such a jerk but the kid's whining had grated on his nerves.

He had headed outside to cool his head when an idea hit him. Inari needed to see what a hero could do. Not to mention he didn't like the idea of waiting around for Zabuza to make his move, especially with Gato being a stones through away. The way Naruto saw it, Zabuza worked for money. So if he took Gato out of the equation, then Zabuza would back off. Smiling at the audacity of it he headed back in to grab his ninja tools before jumping out the window in order to confront Gato in person.

Unbeknownst to him his leaving was watched by a young man wearing a pink kimono having no doubt that the boy and girl he had encountered would be trouble. Guessing that Naruto was going to attack Gato he considered letting the boy go. However, he knew Zabuza would be angry if his large payday was killed before getting the money. Quickly changing into his hunter clothes he moved in pursuit yet hoping he arrived too late.

* * *

Sakura had never seen Naruto snap like that at anyone. Sure he yelled when upset, but he had sounded genuinely angry at what Inari had said. After he took off, she noticed that Kakashi had gone to talk to Inari. Guessing that the subject would be Naruto she followed hoping to gain a little insight into the blonde. She stayed just out of sight, but didn't doubt that Kakashi knew she was there.

"I know it sounded harsh. But Naruto doesn't hate you," Kakashi said. "I imagine it's simply that you touched a nerve seeing as he didn't have a father growing up either since he lost both his parents. He didn't really have any friends growing up as well. But I've never seen him sulk or cry. I guess he simply ran out of tears" Sakura noticed that the look on Inari's face softened slightly at hearing Naruto's tale, "Out of everyone, I suppose Naruto understands what you are going through best since he was alone for most of his life. That's why he seeks to become Hokage and be acknowledged. So don't take what he said to heart as I'm sure it's something he's said to himself hundreds of times."

Sakura felt bad for all the times she thought Naruto had it easy since he didn't have any parents. She was about to go in search of him when Sasuke came outside making right for Kakashi saying, "I think we may have a problem."

"Why's that," Kakashi asked sending one of his eye smiles to the eavesdropping Sakura.

Stepping out of the shadows she frowned when Sasuke said, "The losers gear is gone. And I can't find him."

Sighing Kakashi said, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

"Why Kakashi-sensei, where did he go?"

"Well Sakura, put yourself in Naruto's shoes for a moment. You heard about a gangster who killed a good man and everyone knows where to find this gangster but are too afraid of him to do anything about him. Not to mention he's hired a dangerous rogue ninja to eliminate another good man."

Getting what Kakashi was saying she said, "He going after Gato."

"That's what I would expect from the Leaf's number one knuckleheaded ninja," Kakashi said. "Well anyway I suppose we should go rescue him." Although he sounded laid back about it he was worried. While Gato probably didn't have any shinobi at his shipping company where he stayed, he didn't know if Naruto could handle all the guards the man had around it.

* * *

Gato was sitting across from a team of three shinobi all wearing masks in the same vein as the little punk that served Zabuza. Leaning back in his sofa he said, giving a slimy smile, "So there you have it gentlemen. Once Zabuza kills the bridge builder I'll tell you where he's hiding."

"You must realize we could force you to talk," the lead hunter said causing Gato's men to reach for their swords.

"You touch me, Zabuza will disappear by the time you find out," Gato said holding up a hand to tell his men to relax. "I can understand you're all hot to trot to get him, but all you need to do is sit back and relax and I'll hand him to you on a silver platter. Unless you want to kill the bridge builder for me, that is?"

"We can't afford a confrontation with the Leaf," the hunter said. "I suppose we'll simple have to do it your way." The lead hunter was standing to leave when an alarm sounded.

"What the hell is going on," Gato shouted angrily.

One of his men wearing a mike earpiece reported, "A trespasser has entered the grounds. They believe it's one of the shinobi…wait a second a whole battalion of trespassers just appeared…they appear to be all the same person."

The hunter got up from his chair moving to the window and saw hundreds of clones attacking the guards. "The Shadow clone jutsu," he said, "It appears that the Leaf has decided to go on the offensive." Motioning to his two fellow hunters, they burst into action killing Gato's men in a handful of heartbeats.

Surprised Gato said, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Judging by how well your men are holding up it is unlikely you are going to survive the night…" The hunter's two underlings grabbed Gato by the shoulder as he procured a wicked looking knife. "I told you we have ways of getting the information from you. It looks like we'll have to use them."

* * *

Naruto smiled at the chaos his clones were causing. While they distracted the guards he had climbed to the roof and was planning to bust into the large office windows that he had seen on his way through the shipping dock. He was almost to the ledge when he was kicked back.

Getting back to his feet he came face to face with the hunter from before. "You faker," he snarled at the false hunter-nin.

"I'm sorry for the deception; however I could not allow your sensei to kill my master," the masked boy said calmly. "I ask that you desist from this attack as I'll be forced to harm you."

"Never," Naruto said angrily, "Didn't you hear what I said to Zabuza? Naruto Uzumaki never backs down."

"I'm sorry," the boy said and Naruto was surprised when it sounded like he actually meant it.

Haku moved faster than he had ever seen, quickly closing the distance between them before ramming his fist in Naruto's stomach. Folding around the punch, he was kicked away causing him to skid along the roof. Just getting back to his feet Naruto was again sent flying by another hit from Haku this time a kick to the middle of his back.

As Naruto tried to get up on wobbly arms the masked boy said, "Please, any further attempts to get up will force me to kill you."

"I made a promise," Naruto said standing, "I would protect Tazuna and I wouldn't let anything bad happen to Sakura." The masked boy actually took a step back as Naruto looked at him his eyes flashing red for a moment as he said, "The only way you're ever going to stop me is to kill me."

Haku pulled his senbon letting them fly as the boy charged him. However he was caught by surprise when Naruto created a clone in front of him whose back he used to leap over the senbon which impaled the clone dispelling it. He attempted to reach for more, but was hit in the face by the falling blonde knocking his mask loose.

Naruto stared in shock as he recognized the face of Haku. Picking his mask back up, Haku said, "Hello again Naruto. I truly wish we didn't have to fight."

"Then why are you helping Zabuza," Naruto said confused how such a gentle person could work for a creep like that.

"I told you, he's precious to me," Haku said alluding to their earlier conversation, "As a child I was alone and unneeded. Then one day Zabuza found me and I had a purpose. I exist simply as his tool to bring about his dreams."

"How can you say that?"

"Because having no purpose to live, to be unwanted, surely you can understand why such a fate I would wish to avoid," Haku said sensing that Naruto did indeed understand.

Grabbing his stomach Naruto said, "I can understand that loneliness hurts but this…this existence isn't any better… to exist as simply a tool… how is that any different than being alone?"

"Because Zabuza is precious to me and that is why I cannot allow you to harm Gato," Haku said with his mask back in place. "I'm truly sorry."

Haku charged Naruto again but this time Naruto was ready. When the boy got half way to him he created a dozen shadow clones that charged Haku from all sides. Haku followed the one he believed was the original stabbing it with the kunai he had pulled. But he was surprised as it turned into smoke. So sure was he that he had followed the right Naruto he had left himself open to attack being hit by five of the clones at once straight into the air. One of the clones folded his hands in front of him giving Naruto a boost as he placed his foot on them. Reaching Haku at the peak of his climb he hit him downward with enough force to send him crashing through the roof.

Haku picked himself up to find himself in a room with three other hunters and Gato who was not dead yet, but probably would be soon. Since the top of his skull was removed, and he had electrodes plugged directly into his brain. As soon as the leader laid eyes on him, he said, "You must be the false hunter Gato was talking about. We haven't managed to learn where Zabuza is at yet, so why don't you save us the trouble and tell us."

"Never," Haku said preparing to flee.

"I thought you'd say that," was the leader's reply as he nodded to his two underlings who charged at the unspoken order. However as they passed through the hole Haku had made a bunch of Naruto's fell on the pair.

Locking up at the hole he saw the real Naruto say, "Come on."

Confused as to why the blonde would help him he never the less ran up the pile of bodies leaping through the hole landing next to Naruto.

"Why…"

"Never mind that," Naruto shouted running over the side of the building with Haku right behind him. "Those were real hunters' right and they're after Zabuza and you?"

"Yes"

"Have they ever seen your face?" Naruto asked as they hit the ground moving through the boxes of cargo sitting on the large pier.

"I don't…"

"Give me your mask," Naruto said pulling Haku into a little alcove of boxes.

Doing as instructed Haku handed over his mask so Naruto henged himself to look like the boy and placed it on his own face. "Ditch your clothes and try and get some different ones. I'll draw them away."

"Why…"

"Because I do know what it's like to not have anyone," Naruto said sadly. "Tell Zabuza about Gato probably setting him up, that should mean we aren't enemies anymore."

They could hear footsteps moving over the wood so Naruto darted out of the alcove. Haku heard a shout of, "There he is," so quickly changed into his kimono. Moments later the hunters passed by. The leader stopped to look at him for a moment but apparently found him to be no threat before chasing after the retreating Naruto. He was fairly confident that the Hunters would let Naruto go after they realized their mistake but with any luck he and Zabuza would be long gone by then.

* * *

"_I'm going to strangle that idiot_," Sakura thought, both angry and worried at the same time. "_How can he be so reckless?_"

But upon arriving at the dock she felt some of her fear abate as they saw the state of Gato's shipping headquarters. Covering the grounds were the moaning and groaning guards of Gato. Sasuke apparently was just as surprised as her as he said, "The…the loser did this?"

"Don't underestimate what a lot of shadow clones can do," Kakashi said. "With that jutsu Naruto can literally be a one man army."

"Yet you won't teach it to me," Sasuke said a little angry.

"It wouldn't matter if I did," Kakashi said turning to his student. "You wouldn't be able to make more than three without completely exhausting yourself."

Sakura noticed Sasuke's jaw clench at that but said, "Who cares about that right now? Where's Naruto?"

"My guess is he'd be where Gato is," Kakashi said leaping onto a shipping crate to run towards the building at the center of the area followed by his two charges. Finding the hole in the roof the three dropped down and were shocked to find Gato with the top of his skull missing with electrodes in his brain.

"Shit," Kakashi swore leaping back through the hole to scan the grounds.

"What is it Kakashi?" Sakura asked a little unwell at what they had seen.

"That's a technique used by Kiri Hunter-nin to get information from a target. By stimulating the electrodes they can force a person to reveal secrets he doesn't necessarily want to and tends to work faster than drugs."

"So what's the big deal? They aren't after Naruto are they?" Sakura asked.

"Hard to say," Kakashi said, "If they know about Zabuza's helper they may suspect him of being it and give him the same treatment as Gato." A large explosion on the dock attracted their attention guessing that was where Naruto was they leapt down to run to the aid of their teammate.

Naruto shook his head to clear the bells ringing in his ears. Looking around he could see one of the hunter's on his back having been a little too close to the large container of gas when his fire jutsu missed and hit it. He searched for the other two but a moment later a whip of water wrapped around his neck. Being pulled taunt it yanked Naruto off his feet towards the Lead hunter who said, "You've given us a merry chase boy. But now it's time to tell us where your master is."

Dropping his henge he pulled off Haku's mask saying, "My sensei is at the Tazuna residence."

Making an annoyed sound he said, "Don't play games with me boy. Where is the boy you were pretending to be."

"I don't know," Naruto said thinking of a lie on the spot, "But he was never here. I wasn't sure I could get to Gato so henged myself to look like Zabuza's hunter-nin partner…"

He trailed off to let the hunter fill in the rest which his underling who was helping his partner up did saying, "That way Gato would think if he escaped that Zabuza had betrayed him."

Naruto simply nodded. The leader said pulling the water whip tighter, "Still I think we should kill you just for the aggravation. Because of you there's a good chance Zabuza knows we are here."

"Oh I wouldn't go that far," said the smooth voice of Kakashi. "Particularly, due to the matter that it was you that killed Zabuza's meal ticket."

Making the same annoyed grunt as before the Hunter allowed the whip to return to its liquid state. Turning to the new arrival he said, "Kakashi Hatake. Well I suppose there's no use hanging around here then." Forming a hand-sign, he turned into water draining into the cracks between the boards as did his two assistants.

"Naruto you idiot," Sakura yelled bopping him on the head sending him back to his rear before picking him up and shaking him. "What's the big idea running off by yourself like that? Did you enjoy making me worry? Well answer me?"

"Um, actually Sakura, I think he's kind of lost consciousness," Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head.

"I didn't mean to…"

"Relax Sakura," Kakashi said chuckling, "it's simply from all the chakra he's expended. He'll probably be as good as new in a few days." Taking Naruto from the girl he placed him on his back saying, "Alright everyone let's go. I think the people of Wave are going to wake up to quite a happy tomorrow."

* * *

Kakashi had been putting it mildly when he said that the people of Wave would be ecstatic at the news that awaited them the next day, as they had celebrated almost from sun up to sun down. Naruto had slept through it all. Although the village celebrated, Tazuna had kept working on his bridge to which most of the men who had quit returned. She had to give the man credit as he had welcomed them back warmly despite their abandoning him before.

She had been tasked to stay and watch Naruto and the household while Kakashi and Sasuke watched the bridge builder. Although Gato was dead there may have been people loyal enough to him to try and stage an attack against Tazuna or his family. It was unlikely, but there was no sense in leaving it to chance. She didn't mind though as she watched Naruto sleep admitting that he was kind of cute already.

Moving a stray strand of hair from his forehead she was tempted to kiss it but resisted. She just couldn't wrap her head around Naruto anymore. Granted on the surface he was the same reckless troublemaking boy from the Academy. But beneath it he was proving to be so much more. He had charged into a dangerous situation head first and if the mask they had found was any indication had almost been killed to help a boy who was technically their enemy.

What was really amazing was that he grew up like that despite being alone and from what she could see ostracized from the very village he planned to one day lead. With only a teacher, the Hokage, and two ramen stand owners being the only people that seemed to care if he woke up the next morning. He was a true diamond in the rough.

When she got back to the village she planned to have a talk with Iruka about just how Naruto graduated. From there she wasn't sure, but she was closely considering giving into herself to simply admit that Naruto would probably make an excellent boyfriend. However she figured it couldn't hurt to get a little closer to him before making that decision just yet.

Hearing her name she looked over at the bed seeing that Naruto was staring at her. "What happened?" he asked looking around the room.

Stomping down on the anger the memory of why he was there raised she replied, "You exhausted yourself fighting all of Gato's men."

"Oh," was the simple one word reply. After a moment he asked, "Am I in trouble?"

"Kakashi didn't seem too upset," Sakura replied, "In fact I think he was kind of expecting something along those lines from you."

"What happened to Gato?" Naruto asked.

Sakura answered telling him that Gato had died as a result of the Hunter interrogation and that the people of Wave had been celebrating all day. She smiled softly seeing that by the time she finished her story Naruto had gone back to sleep. Giving into temptation this time she stood placing a gentle kiss on his forehead and her smile widened as she saw one appear on Naruto's face. Getting up she decided to see if Tsunami needed any help with getting supper ready as soon the others should be returning.

* * *

It took several more weeks before the bridge was finished. The whole town had come to see them off since the mission was over. Sakura smiled as Naruto and Inari did their best not to break down and cry in front of each other. Walking back she really couldn't wait to get home. Along the way Sakura realized something. While Kakashi had punished Naruto for going off on his own, in the form of extra training, which Sakura didn't really think Naruto minded. He had almost seemed pleased by Naruto's answer of why he did it.

_Which he explained his thought process by saying, "Well the way I saw it was we were focusing on the wrong problem."_

"_Oh really, do tell," Kakashi had said giving an eye smile._

_A little shy due to being put on the spot he said, "Well I figured Gato was at the center of the problem, therefore if we took him out then everything else would sort itself out."_

"_So you went there to kill him," Kakashi said._

"_What no, just scare him a little, show him that we could get to him if we wanted too," Naruto said._

"_That's exactly why I didn't suggest doing that," Kakashi said causing all of the genin to stare at him in surprise._

"_Your idea was a sound one in theory Naruto," Kakashi explained, "With Gato out of the way nobody would have been around to pay Zabuza causing him to lose interest in Tazuna. But let me tell you what would more than likely have happened had you simply tried to scare him. More than likely Gato would have hired more missing-nin making our job far more dangerous._

"_I'm sorry," Naruto had said upon realizing his mistake._

"_It's okay, but next time you get a foolish notion in that head of yours, run it by me first alright. I can more than likely point out any holes in it." Kakashi had replied rubbing the top of Naruto's head._

What Sakura realized was one of the reasons that Naruto didn't give as his grounds for going. Which was his promise to her to make sure nothing happened to her during the mission. Although he didn't mention it, she was sure it had been one of the motivations for Naruto's attack on Gato headquarters. It was the way he looked at her as they got off the bridge that told her that, like he felt he had kept his word to her. He didn't say anything of course and she was beginning to realize he never really boasted. He spoke highly of himself sure, but he never actually talked about his accomplishments. He had single handedly fought thirty of Gato's guards, led three hunter-nin on a chase through the dock buying enough time for that Haku boy to escape, and at some point before the mission learned a clone jutsu that according to Kakashi was way outside of what a genin should be able to use. But he never once mentioned any of those accomplishments. He didn't even rub them in Sasuke's face something she figured he'd be dying to do.

Forming a list in her head she decided to do some research on her teammate. First she would visit Iruka as she was positive there was something about Naruto's graduation that was outside the norm. Then she'd visit the library to find out any information on the strange Kekkei Genkai that Naruto seemed to have that caused him to heal so quickly. Not to mention it seemed to replenish his chakra far quicker than normal as well, since Kakashi had needed a week to heal from chakra exhaustion, while Naruto had needed a day.

Sakura while lost in thought was alert enough to notice Kakashi hold up his hand signaling them to stop. She was surprised when her sensei said, "You can come out now. That is unless you plan to follow us all the way to Konoha?"

"The only reason you knew I was there is because I let you," was the reply as Zabuza stepped out from behind a tree along the trail with Haku doing so from another.

"Well then to what do we owe the honor?" Kakashi asked his guard appearing relaxed but was ready to move at a moment's notice.

"I didn't come for a rematch if that's what you are asking about. I came because of that loud mouth brat of yours."

Addressing Naruto the Demon of Mist said, "Haku tells me we owe you and that you pretended to be him to allow him to escape to warn me. Why?"

"Because with Gato out of the way there was no need to fight," Naruto replied.

Zabuza began laughing before saying, "You're a foolish naïve little brat."

"Zabuza," Haku said.

"However, I'm in your debt so is there anyone you want killed so we can square things," Zabuza said.

Naruto shook his head before saying, "Just don't treat Haku like a tool anymore."

Both former Mist shinobi were surprised by Naruto's request. Zabuza said, "That's it. Apparently you don't realize what a boon it is to have another shinobi in your pocket."

"I don't care about that," Naruto said seriously, "I'm going to be Hokage someday. There's nothing that you can do that I don't plan to be able to do for myself one day. But to Haku you are his most precious person and all he wants is to make your dreams come true. He doesn't deserve to be treated as something that you can discard as unnecessary one day. He deserves the same level of respect from you that he gives to you."

Although Zabuza didn't break down and cry, Sakura though she could detect a watering of Zabuza's eyes. He turned away saying, "You're a fool and I doubt you're going to live very long in this cursed world of shinobi. But regardless, I'll honor your request. Come along Haku."

Naruto began waving to them as they disappeared into the woods, and shouted, "Take care Haku. When I become Hokage you'll have to stop by for a visit."

A quiet, "I'd like that," was the boy's reply.

Naruto smiled before taking the lead again saying, "Alright let's get going. It's been so long since I've had Ichiraku that I think I'm going through withdrawal."

"Well we can't let the Hero of Wave suffer now can we," Kakashi said jokingly. Sakura noticed that again Sasuke's jaw clenched at the title the people of Wave have given Naruto. Something he seemed to do a lot whenever it seemed Naruto had out performed him. "Let's continue with the tree leaping exercise," Kakashi said referring to the faster method of moving through the trees that he had taught them while the bridge was being finished.

"Alright," Naruto said jumping into the trees first.

As Sakura joined her team moving through the tree's she decided that maybe checking into Naruto could wait until after she just so happened to stop by Ichiraku for a meal. After all it had been a while for her too.


	3. Chapter 3 A Thirst for Knowledge

**An:** Thank you for all the reviews as always. I'm glad this story is being so well received your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.**

**Chapter 3: A Thirst for Knowledge**

"Well this mission turned out to be far more than advertised," the Third said debriefing Team Seven upon their return to the village, much to Naruto displeasure since it was preventing him from getting his ramen. "However it was handled satisfactory. You all do the village proud. That will be all."

"Finely," Naruto said making for the door his patience having been tested to its limit.

Sakura and Sasuke at least stayed long enough to be dismissed by their sensei as well before following in his wake. Kakashi watched his students leave sweeping a more critical eye over Sasuke as the boy had been displaying a jealousy to Naruto sudden rise in status and skill.

'Is there a problem Kakashi?" the third asked.

"I'm not sure yet," he replied, "Sasuke has been pulling away from his team. It seems to stem from Naruto sudden improvement."

"I see," the Hokage said gravely. Standing he said, "It must be difficult to accept that in the Academy he was a legend but is still a small fish in the greater world."

"Perhaps," Kakashi said, "But I think it has more to do with Naruto then encountering Zabuza."

"Oh, explain please."

"It's no secret that Naruto considers Sasuke a rival to be surpassed," Kakashi said. "As things stand know Sasuke probably sees Naruto is capable of doing so. And if Naruto the worst student in his class can surpass him what does that say about his chances of completing his ambition."

"Do you have a way to combat this potential problem?"

"If there is a way I can't see it," Kakashi said seriously. "I think the only way Sasuke would be happy is if Naruto began to do poorly again. So outside of sabotaging Naruto's training or transferring one of them off of Team 7. I'm not sure what to do."

"Naturally, neither solution is practicable," Sarutobi said. "Keep me abreast of the situation. Now, what of Sakura?"

"Well I'm not sure exactly," Kakashi said. "For some reason she's seemed to have made a one eighty in who she is interested in as she has been seeking to learn more about Naruto."

"Really, well I imagine Naruto will be pleased. Any idea what prompted this sudden change?"

"Some," Kakashi admitted before telling the Hokage about what Sasuke said about her and Naruto's subsequent attempt to cheer her up.

"Hmm, but unless my ears deceive me, your tone seems to suggest this maybe a problem," the Hokage said lighting his pipe.

"It may be, due in part to Sakura's intelligence," Kakashi said. "She's already suspicious of him as she's noticed he seems to heal at an accelerated rate. While she seems to think it's a Kekkei Genkai. Upon noticing it she didn't ask me. That makes me think that she suspects there is more going."

"Do you think she'll learn of the burden he carries?"

"If any of the children that graduated with him is capable of doing so it's her," Kakashi said.

"And how do you think she'll react?"

"That I can't guess at…" Kakashi said trailing off. "Should I begin to hamper her if she begins to look into Naruto too closely?"

"No," Sarutobi said, "Let her do as she likes for now. Perhaps by looking into him and uncovering his secrets she will come to appreciate the service he provides the village."

"Yes Lord Hokage," Kakashi said before leaving the room.

Getting up to go for a walk Sarutobi wondered what would happen should Sakura learn that her teammate contained the creature that attacked the village thirteen years ago. And whether or not upon learning of that would she reject him or cherish him.

* * *

Sakura arrived at Ichiraku after dropping her stuff off at home. Her mom had just been setting the table for dinner, but she assured her that there was enough for everyone. However, Sakura told her not to worry about it as she planned to eat out. Sakura smiled before she lifted the flap as she could see Naruto's pack near the stool showing he hadn't bothered to head home first.

Sakura lifted the flap and Ayame recognized her as she had stopped in a few times but always without Naruto. "Ah welcome, would you like your usual?" Ayame asked cheerfully.

Naruto turned to see who it was. Surprised to see his teammate he gave rise to it saying, "Sakura! Why didn't you say you were coming here? I'd have waited."

Sakura smiled, which faltered a little when the friendly smile on Ayame's face faded. No doubt from having heard how she treated Naruto in the academy. However it reappeared when Naruto turned back around. "Put what she wants on my bill," Naruto said.

Ayame sent a look Sakura's way that seemed to convey that she thought the girl didn't deserve it but said, "Okay Naruto. What will you have?"

"You don't have to Naruto," Sakura said.

"Don't worry about it Sakura," Naruto said giving her a smile. "I plan to eat till I'm stuffed since we got paid, even if I think they should have given us A-rank pay."

"The Hokage couldn't Naruto, as then they'd have to charge Tazuna more," Sakura said sitting next to him on the stool and then ordering.

Ayame despite her attitude towards Sakura cooling, having learned that she was that Sakura, still remained polite. Placing Sakura's order in front of her the young woman said, "Yes, Naruto was telling us about his mission. He said it was quite exciting."

'Exciting isn't the word I'd use," Sakura said. "I never would have thought we'd run into a Missing-nin on a simple escort mission."

"A missing-nin," Ayame said surprised, "You forgot to mention that."

Sakura discreetly watched Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head chuckling weakly as he said, "Well I didn't really fight against the missing-nin so I didn't think to mention it."

Addressing Sakura the waitress asked, "What else has he failed to mention?"

Not really wanting to get Naruto in trouble with one of the people that cared for him she said, "Oh that's about it I'm sure."

Eyeing the two genin suspiciously Ayame said, "Oh well, as long as everyone made it back safely."

Sakura guessed her backing Naruto raised the young woman's opinion of her as she seemed far more cordial to her afterwards. Sakura wondered for a moment if the slightly older girl had feeling for Naruto too, and while she decided that she did believed the girl saw him as a younger brother.

Watching Naruto eat she couldn't believe how much ramen he could put away. He had almost six bowls and still didn't seem full. The waitress eventually managed to get most of the story of what happened in Wave from the Blonde apparently knowing how to trip him up in order to get him to admit to things. But eventually even Naruto could get full so after paying his bill he grabbed his pack and made to leave.

"I'm glad you came out Sakura," Naruto said and the earnest way he said it made her smile.

"So am I," she admitted having had a good time.

She could see that he looked conflicted and figured that he wanted to ask her if she wanted him to walk her home. Not simply as a boy interested in her, but because it had gotten dark. She didn't doubt that the conflict stemmed from his having stopped asking her out even, if she told him she'd given up on chasing Sasuke.

Figuring she'd help him she said, "Naruto, would you mind walking home with me?"

"N-no Sakura," he said surprised but pleased.

As they walked she asked, "Why did you try to keep what happened in Wave from Ayame and Teuchi?"

"Well I guess because they've both kind of looked after me since I was little," Naruto said. "Ayame tends to worry."

"Oh…" Sakura said. "So they watched you when you were younger?"

"After I left the orphanage," Naruto said.

"Why'd you leave?"

"You're asking a lot of questions today Sakura," Naruto said looking at her.

"I guess I just wanted to learn more about you," Sakura admitted. "You're surprisingly close lipped considering how noisy you are."

"I guess it's just nobody's ever really been interested in me before," Naruto said, "so I've never had a reason to talk about myself."

"I'm sorry…"

"About what?"

"About how I ignored you while we were in the Academy," Sakura said looking away sadly.

"You were interested in Sasuke," Naruto said. "Besides it doesn't matter. Although I was lonely sometimes, I had people like Ayame, Teuchi, Iruka, and the Hokage looking out for me. I guess I just learned to appreciate the people that did see me."

"_But why do the rest of the villagers pretend not to_?" Sakura thought to herself not ready to ask Naruto directly as she was sure he'd try to turn the subject.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Naruto saying, "What about you Sakura?"

"Huh, what about me?"

"Well tell me something about you," Naruto said giving a smile.

"That's not really fair as you kind of just told me those things," Sakura said embarrassed.

"You pried a little bit," Naruto said.

"I like dumplings," Sakura said lamely in response.

Naruto nodded but before he could ask more she said, "Well we're here."

"Okay," Naruto said smiling, "Mission see Sakura safely home is complete. I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura."

Shaking her head she said, "We don't have training tomorrow Naruto. Kakashi gave us the day off remember."

"Really, guess I forgot."

Sakura was about to wish him a good-night when the door opened, "Ah, I thought I heard voices out here."

Sakura looked up to see her mom looking at her and Naruto. She was about to introduce him when she saw the light of recognition go off in her mom's eyes. She found that rather strange as her mom wasn't a shinobi and while Naruto's pranks were well known. In a village the size of Konoha it was kind of hard to believe everyone knew of him. Shaking it off she said, "Mom, this is my teammate Naruto."

"Is he now," her mom said cautiously. The way she said it made it a statement not a question. Sakura was also concerned by her mom's cold attitude as she always greeted all her other friends warmly.

Naruto was obviously nervous as well so he said, "Well, I'll see you at training the day after tomorrow." He started to leave but stopped saying, "We do have training the day after right?"

"Yes," Sakura said with a smile. "I'll see you then Naruto."

Sakura stepped inside closing the door behind her. "So that's who your other teammate is," her mom said.

"Didn't I mention it?" Sakura asked.

"No, all I remembered you speaking about was Sasuke," the older Haruno said. "I guess it slipped your mind."

Sakura was embarrassed as she remembered the day of the bell test coming down to breakfast and sharing the news with her family. "Sorry," Sakura said upset with her previous self.

"Is…is he a good teammate?"

"Yes," Sakura responded watching her mom critically. For some reason Sakura couldn't shake the feeling that her mom was somewhat worried now, as if knowing Naruto was her teammate filled her with dread. Hoping to put her at ease Sakura said, "Actually he's a great teammate. He's really helped me these past few weeks."

"How so," her mom asked surprised at just how passionate her daughter replied. As the only person that had ever elicited a similar positive response was Sasuke.

"Well whenever I was feeling down he'd be there to cheer me up or give me a boost of confidence. Not to mention he's not too proud to ask for help when he needs it."

"What about Sasuke?"

"He's a good teammate too I guess. It's just…"

"Just what dear?"

"He seems so cold now," Sakura said. "Also while at the time his goals for the future made him seem mysterious and cool. Now…now it kind of worries me. Mom do you know Naruto?"

"No dear but I've heard of him," the elder Haruno said.

"How?"

"What do you mean how?"

"I mean how do you know of him?" Sakura said. "Because it seems everyone does and that doesn't make any sense."

"Of course it does. Not too many children would have the audacity to paint the Hokage monument."

"That's exactly my point," Sakura said getting a little upset believing her mom was keeping something from her. "Yes he's a practical joker but the entire village seems to know him and they all seem to want to ignore him. Even you seemed wary of him but you claimed to never have met him."

A little concerned her mom said, "Dear I think your imagining things. I was nothing put kind to him."

"Yes but you weren't acting like you," Sakura said. "Normally you'd invite him in or try to embarrass me by asking all sorts of questions."

"Let's just drop it Sakura," her mom said turning to leave. "The boy simply has a reputation as a troublemaker that's all. Anyway, how was your mission?"

Sakura allowed her mom to change the topic but was now more interested than ever to learn what it was about Naruto that made people uneasy. It wasn't her imagination as she had seen the almost universal attempt to reject his existence. To her it was almost like people were hoping that if they closed their eyes he'd go away like a bad dream. Telling her mom about the mission she made sure to tell her all that he had done in order to free the people of Wave. She didn't know why Naruto was treated as he was, but she did know he didn't deserve and she'd change people's opinions of him one person at a time if need be.

* * *

Sakura smiled nostalgically as she walked through the front gate of the Academy. But she stopped as she saw the swing that Naruto had sat on looking depressed as the other children played together. She remembered the last time she had seen him on it had been when they had graduated. Her mom and dad had been there showering their praise on her. But Naruto had sat on the swing alone looking on sadly as the parents congratulated their children. She hadn't paid him any mind only seeing him out of the corner of her eye. But when she had looked back a few minutes later he was already gone.

Wishing she had paid more attention that day she entered the academy heading for her old classroom. School was still out, but it was close enough to the new school year that Sakura was betting that Iruka was here. Sliding the door open she saw that her instincts were right and smiled at her teacher as he looked up.

"Sakura," he said surprised, "What brings you here?"

"Iruka-sensei," she greeted warmly.

Standing he said, "So how is life as a shinobi?"

"Eye opening," she replied causing her teacher to smile.

"Yes, I imagine so. We try to prepare you as best we can but there's just no replacement for the real thing."

"Yeah," Sakura said, "But actually I came here because I have a question for you."

"Oh, go ahead," Iruka said hoping he could be of help.

"How did Naruto graduate?"

"What…well he….Why do you ask?"

"Please answer the question," Sakura said wondering why her teacher was so nervous about her desire to know.

Scratching his cheek something her years under him as a student told her he was nervous. His demeanor changed to accusing as he instead asked, "Is this some attempt to get him off your team? It wasn't any secret you were less than thrilled at his inclusion on Team Seven."

"No Iruka-sensei," Sakura said a little hurt, but couldn't fault him for his suspicions. "It's just…Naruto has been surprising me lately and I'm curious about how he graduated. He failed the test. Then all the sudden he comes out with this amazing clone jutsu that he apparently learned in-between the time we graduated and team assignments."

Surprised by just how much thought Sakura had put into the conditions behind her teammate's graduation Iruka said, "Well he passed a make-up exam."

"And the clone jutsu," Sakura said narrowing her eyes at her teacher.

Sighing in defeat since he figured no matter what he said she'd eventually uncover how Naruto learned the jutsu, "After failing the test Naruto was approached by Mizuki…"

Sakura listened attentively as her teacher explained how Mizuki had attempted to use Naruto to steal the scroll of sealing. Although his story rang true she still had the feeling he was leaving something out. When he finished his tale she asked, "Why Naruto?"

"Pardon," Iruka said, "Probably because he failed the test."

"There were others," Sakura said beginning to think out loud, "So why him? Does it have to do with why the villagers ignore Naruto?"

Iruka's eyes widened as Sakura said that, as it was obvious the girl had been paying attention to the villager's dismissal of the boy's existence. However his fear of her eventually finding out the reason why prevented him from saying more.

"Do you have any idea why the villagers ignore Naruto?" Sakura asked.

Iruka could see that she was suspicious of him now or suspected that even if he answered it wouldn't exactly be the truth. As he noticed that she was searching his face for any of the signs that he was lying. She was being discreet about it, but the way her eyes darted to the spots that he had taught her about told him the truth. Using the years of training that he possessed he said, "I suppose it's related to some of his pranks. Perhaps they are hoping that by ignoring him it won't attract his attention as a possible target."

"I guess that makes sense," Sakura said. "By the way, what happened to Mizuki-sensei?"

"He was executed," Iruka said bluntly. "His crime of betrayal was too great to overlook."

Sakura was surprised at the harsh punishment but nodded before saying, "Thanks, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka watched her leave before packing up his stuff to head to the Hokage's office to tell the leader of Sakura's looking into Naruto's past. He was partly afraid that should she learn of the Kyuubi that she would reject him as he had a good idea how much that would devastate the boy.

* * *

Sakura was positive that she had been lied to by her old teacher. While his face didn't give it away, the complete schooling of his features did. Not to mention the prank excuse had already been used by her mom. The only prank that she could think of that the whole village knew about was his painting of the Hokage monument and that had been harmless as he'd had it cleaned by the next day. So why was every citizen united in trying to deny Naruto existed? What event could possibly have united the whole village into blatantly ignoring him?

Was it something his parents did? But to her that didn't make sense. After all, everyone had heard about how the Uchiha had been murdered by a member of Sasuke's own family. Yet Sasuke himself didn't seem to be ostracized as a result. So what was it about Naruto that they hated?

She'd decided to look up any famous or perhaps infamous Uzumaki's as well, since she was heading to the library in order to research his apparent Kekkei Genkai.

As she walked to the library she caught sight of some kids running down a street. What caught her eye was that they all were wearing the goggles that Naruto used to wear before he became a shinobi. She stopped for a moment to watch them, as they had begun looking around like they had been chasing someone but lost him.

Who they lost and the reason they wore the goggles became apparent as Naruto unhenged himself, having turned into a garbage can, and attacked the trio with the paper shuriken that kids playing shinobi tended to use. The boy in a yellow shirt began pointing at him and although she couldn't hear what was being said guessed it had to do with Naruto using real shinobi tactics. Naruto began shouting back and before she knew it both boys were glaring at each other, but seconds later were laughing and smiling.

Deciding to leave him alone as she was sure he would invite her to play, something she found a little childish yet fitting with Naruto's character, but also because she wanted to really learn more about the healing ability he displayed.

Entering the library was like coming home again considering all the time she spent here during her tenure at the academy. She got a little wistful at remembering why, which had been to make Sasuke notice how smart she was; since she felt she might not measure up to Ino physically. However it did have its benefits, as she knew almost the entire layout by heart. There was supposedly a room filled with rare books and scrolls that she had never seen. But outside of that, she could probably walk the library blindfolded and find the section she was searching for.

Pulling several books on Blood limits she first looked up the Sharingan. However, outside of some basic information almost everyone who's seen the eye would know found it lacking. She didn't doubt that if she looked up another village Kekkei Genkai it would be the same story as the clans guarded their secrets even from their allies. So her best hope was that Naruto's was from outside the village.

Looking through the index she found two that featured accelerated healing but unless Naruto suddenly began pulling bones of his body or merging with other people doubted it was them. There was a blood line ability were others could be healed by sucking the chakra out of the person. But none exclusively dedicated to healing the individual. Closing the book, she opened the next one and began searching.

* * *

"What is it Iruka," the gravelly voice of the Hokage asked as the teacher stopped in front of his desk. "You seem agitated."

"I was paid a visit by an old student today who was asking for the details of how Naruto graduated."

"This student wouldn't happen to be Sakura would it," Although he phrased it like a question the Hokage's tone seemed to convey he knew that it was.

"How …"

"Kakashi has informed me that Sakura has been more curious about Naruto lately." While Iruka absorbed that information the Hokage watched the teacher. Finally he said, "Tell me do you intend to tell Naruto?"

"Yes, I planned to," Iruka said.

"Please refrain from doing so."

"Lord Hokage he has a right to know," Iruka said his voice rising slightly.

"I suppose that is a valid point, but please listen to my reasoning. I fear if you tell Naruto it will put pressure on him. Pressure that will ultimately do him no good. For instance, he may decide to tell Sakura out of fear of her discovering about the Kyuubi for herself."

"Yes, but perhaps he should," Iruka said.

"Tell me Iruka, would you tell someone you barely know a secret of that magnitude?"

"Sir, they've known each other for years," Iruka countered.

Chuckling the village leader said, "Iruka, there is a difference in knowing someone and truly knowing someone. Yes, they have seen each other almost daily for years. But does Sakura truly know Naruto? The answer is obviously, no. Since she is only now asking about him. Yet the same holds true for Naruto. How much does he know about her? Can he trust her with his burden? Or, upon learning about it will she react with fear and hostility? Better I think, she finds out for herself and she make the next move, then to force Naruto to reveal his secret before he is ready."

Iruka thought about it for a moment before saying, "I'll honor your wishes, Lord Hokage."

"Thank you," the leader said as the teacher left his office. Once alone he sat back in his chair and truly hoped that when Sakura did learn the truth she reacted as he expected.

* * *

Blowing out a frustrated breath Sakura shut the book she was looking through. Apparently she did it a little too noisily as the librarian came over to see what was bothering her. "Hello Sakura," the older lady said smiling at the familiar girl. "I thought with you graduating I'd stop seeing you here studying."

"Well, we must never stop trying to learn more right," Sakura said with a smile.

Nodding the librarian asked, "So then what seems to be the problem in your quest for knowledge."

Sakura was about to tell her about Naruto's quick healing. However, since she beginning to suspect that the whole village already knew something, and would try to stop her from finding out said, "Well on my last mission I encountered a boy who healed at an incredible rate. But if it's a Kekkei Genkai it isn't listed in any of these books."

"I see…" the woman said assuming a stance to think. "Are you sure it's a bloodline ability?"

"What else could it be?" Sakura asked confused.

"Literally anything," the woman said moving towards an aisle and motioning Sakura to follow. Running her finger along the many books she stopped and pulled a large book down before rifling through it. "Let's see," she said as she turned the pages, "Ah here," turning the book towards the girl it was an article on the seven swordsmen of mist. "Tell me have you heard of the Seven Swordsmen?"

"Yes," Sakura said dryly.

"Well according to legend some of the blades possess abilities outside the norm. The great shark blade Samehada for instance is rumored to be able to eat chakra of its wielder's opponents. So perhaps the reason for this healing you noticed is because of some talisman. But it may not be limited to that as there are far more ways for people to increase their power and new ones are discovered all the time."

Taking the book from the woman, Sakura thanked her before taking it to her table. Flipping it to the index her jaw dropped at the number of entries that could heal an injury. Sighing again, she was about to begin reading when she realized maybe there was more to Naruto's ability then just healing. She began thinking about anything else about Naruto that was extraordinary. Immediately she came upon his accelerated ability to recoup chakra. Checking back in the Kekkei Genkai books she found that none of the entries there had any mention of expedient chakra recovery so she returned to the book she was just looking in. She also realized that Naruto large chakra reserves may also be part of his abilities.

Although adding large chakra reserves to her list at first seemed to add to it, between the three she was actually able to eliminate most of them. Oddly enough the sword the librarian had showed her made it to the list, but Sakura was pretty sure Naruto wasn't carrying around a five foot long sword.

"Jinchuriki," she read aloud as she checked the next item on her list. Flipping to it in the book she almost skipped it entirely but couldn't ignore that it had all three abilities listed so reading to herself read:

"_Jinchuriki: literally means Power of Human Sacrifice. Jinchuriki are created through the sealing of a tailed beast into an infant preferable although young children are often used. Adults that have attempted to do so often die as their chakra coils are fixed and cannot adjust to the strain of containing the beast._

_The abilities that the jinchuriki exhibit vary from beast to beast. An example is the one tailed Shukaku, the jinchuriki of that beast often displays an ability to control sand. (See Kiyomori the Mad Monk as a reference to first Shukaku jinchuriki.) _

_However all jinchuriki exhibit some of the following abilities or traits. Abilities all jinchuriki seem to share are accelerated healing and chakra replenishment. Large Chakra reserves also are reported, not to mention a secondary source of chakra should the jinchuriki exhaust his own. Traits vary although often in some way link the host and beast. For example, many claim that the host of the two tailed cat often has cat like eyes._

Sakura was going to cross jinchuriki off her list until reading that. After all Naruto never showed an ability to use a second chakra, but reading about the traits it would explain the whisker like birthmarks on his face which she had always found odd. Skimming through the article for what beasts Konoha had it said:

"_Of all the villages only Konoha lacks a beast of its own. The First Hokage who had the amazing ability to control the beast divided them among the other Great Villages and gave one to the minor village of Waterfall. The whereabouts of the Kyuubi…"_

"_The Kyuubi,_" Sakura thought shocked. Flipping to the date of publication she found that the book was published fifteen years before the Kyuubi attack. "_Could it be…"_ she thought her mind racing. She wanted to reject it almost on an instinctual level since everyone in the village almost universally hated and despised the creature. But that fact alone almost made it a certainty and would explain the desire of the village to pretend Naruto didn't exist.

Reading on the book said, "_Jinchuriki are often loners and most are more in fact burdens to their village as they often lose control of their beasts resulting in large death tolls. It is widely believed by this author that the reason the First gave away all the beasts was for this very reason, as despite their usefulness on the battlefield Konoha has often triumphed without them."_

Sakura closed her eyes, as she felt sick upon reading the authors calm dismissal of the people that housed the creatures. But then she was hit by a desire to find the author and beat him to a bloody pulp. If Naruto was a jinchuriki, he didn't want to be a loner and felt that's why the creatures inevitably got loose. Why lock away a creature to protect the people around them, if those people in turn hated them for doing so.

Calming, she decided to go for a walk, so after putting the books away simply wandered Konoha. She couldn't deny that of all the things she had read in the library, Jinchuriki fit Naruto the best. But why the deception, the lessons taught by the Academy all stated that the Fourth Hokage defeated the Nine-tails. But she realized defeated wasn't the same as killed. The Fourth Hokage could have sealed the nine-tails in Naruto at the cost of his life as the book said a life was often required for the sealing.

Yet, that brought her back to the question of why the great cover up. Why not simply announce Naruto was the jinchuriki of the nine-tails? But upon remembering the cold looks, as if people were trying not to see him, Sakura realized people did know. It was the kids that didn't. But, then why didn't they interact with him. For that answer she didn't need to look any further than her own parents as she remembered seeing Naruto crying in a market once. She had stopped and if she hadn't been holding her mom's hand may have gone talk to him. As it was, she tried to head in his direction, but an insistent tug from her mother made it impossible. Trying to remember what happened next Sakura saw an image of her mom's face and saw that she had seen the boy too. But her mom's eyes had gotten cold and she pretend to simply glide her gaze past him.

Although her parents never told her explicitly not to play with Naruto, she had heard lots of kids give that excuse. Were the parents being prevented from telling the children for some reason? Yet even if they were, the adults were attempting to at least influence their kids' ideas of the boy.

Sakura stopped her train of thought figuring she might be getting ahead of herself. While the evidence seemed to be pointing towards his being a jinchurick she hadn't really proven it yet. A part of her considered asking Naruto, but she figured that he'd deny it.

Thinking of the book still angered her as the author made it seem like the jinchuriki was the problem when to her the problem was the attitude of the people. At least as far as Konoha was concerned. Although she didn't think it was a huge stretch to imagine that people's attitudes were the same in the other villages. But she couldn't imagine that the Bijuu had any sort of real control over its host or otherwise she'd probably be a stain on the floor somewhere considering how she treated Naruto before.

The scent of Ichiraku pulled her from her thoughts. Deciding to have some she almost stopped afraid of seeing Naruto there. She wasn't afraid of him but of how she'd act around him as all the information was a bit much to absorb. Not to mention she didn't know how she wanted to proceed. She guessed the best way to proceed right now was to act normally and simply try to figure out the truth on her own. Also, she kind of wanted Naruto to tell her himself, since it would reflect a level of trust that he was putting into her.

Sitting down the young waitress smiled at her apparently willing to let Sakura's past treatment of her favorite customer go in light of her seeming to come around to his charm. "Welcome Sakura," Ayame said kindly, "What would you like?"

Placing her order, the waitress made small talk with the pink-haired girl. "Has Naruto stopped by yet?"

"No," Ayame said, "He'll probably come by later as I've seen him playing around with Konohamaru."

"Yeah, I've seen him too," Sakura admitted. "I kind of envy him." Ayame gave her a look that seemed to say if you knew more about him you wouldn't, but she clarified what she meant adding, "He doesn't seem to let anything keep him down."

"Well he's a special kid," Ayame said.

"Yeah…"

Leaning an elbow on the counter Ayane said, "You've seemed to be rather taken by him lately."

Blushing and looking away Sakura said, "Um, I suppose I've only really begun to get to know Naruto."

"Oh," Ayame said probably sensing some possible gossip, "Just how well have you gotten to know him?"

"Not that well," Sakura said quickly.

"But would you?"

"I…I'm not sure," Sakura said, "There is something I wanted to ask if you don't mind?"

"Shoot," Ayame said smiling.

"When's Naruto's birthday?"

Ayame looked surprised before sending a look her dad's way but he shrugged so she said, "October tenth."

Sakura kept her features calm, but it was like she had just received a gift. What were the odds that he would be born on the exact same day as the Kyuubi's attack? "Thanks," she said as Ayame placed her order in front of her. Digging in she ate quickly, hoping to leave before Naruto arrived wanting some more time to go over all that she had learned.

* * *

Naruto arrived on time, but as expected Kakashi still hadn't. He leaned against the fence after saying hello to Sakura and sending his customary glare towards Sasuke. Sakura warmly welcomed him as had become the norm and although she also had done so to Sasuke didn't seemed bothered by his normal lackluster greeting.

"Naruto," she said before he got comfortable.

"What's up Sakura," he said moving towards her.

Dropping her voice she said, "Let's go to the training grounds."

"But what about Kakashi-sensei?"

"Guess he'll just have to come find us. But I want to get some training in, instead of sitting around doing nothing," Sakura said.

"What about Sasuke?"

"What about him, I doubt he'd want to train with us," Sakura replied. But looking behind Naruto said, "Sasuke we're going to the training grounds. Do you want to come?"

Sasuke turned his head before saying, "No."

"Okay, well tell Kakashi-sensei for us," Sakura said pulling Naruto with her.

Arriving at the training grounds where they had performed the bell test Naruto asked, "So what kind of training do you want to do?"

"Taijutsu," Sakura replied, "But can you do me a favor? I'd like to see how I'd do against some of your clones."

"Sure thing Sakura," Naruto said creating five clones.

Sakura was amazed as Naruto had created two more clones then Kakashi had claimed Sasuke would be capable of and he wasn't even phased. She shouldn't be surprised though considering her suspicions but it was still impressive.

"Alright Naruto," Sakura said, "Don't hold back."

Naruto nodded, and Sakura tried to prepare, but when the clones came found that she should have asked him to hold back a little, as she managed to block the first who attempted to strike her in the face. However two others approached from the sides of the first and each kicked her in the chest knocking her on her back. Staring up at the sky she saw Naruto descending. She closed her eyes expecting to take another hit, but when it didn't come opened them to see Naruto leaning over her with a closed fist.

"Are you okay Sakura," he asked concerned before opening the fist and offering her a hand up.

"Um, yeah nothing broken I guess, except my pride. I thought I'd do better," Sakura said accepting the hand back to her feet.

"Sorry Sakura," Naruto said.

"You don't need to apologize, Naruto. I asked you to go all out."

Jumping back she said, "Are you ready to go again?"

"Do you want me to get rid of the clones?"

It hurt her pride a little but she nodded her head saying, "I guess we'll just have to go one-on-one till I get better."

"Don't worry Sakura without the clones I doubt I'll be too much for you to handle," Naruto said getting in his stance. "Get ready here I come."

* * *

Sakura was vaguely aware that she was being carried. She had really worn herself out trying to keep up with Naruto. They had already been training for two hours by the time Kakashi had arrived with Sasuke. Although quickly ending up on the defensive against Naruto, he had been a little easier to handle without the clones. But it still hurt her pride to be so easily beaten, even if she knew Naruto wasn't the dead last many people had written him off to be.

However despite training for two hours before the rest of the team arrived Kakashi had insisted that they continue to train. Sakura didn't mind but it had shown her she still had a long way to go. Naruto had volunteered to carry her home. Naturally he was the only one to offer.

As she rested on his back she asked, "Naruto when's your birthday?"

"October tenth," Naruto replied right away.

"So you were born on the day of the Kyuubi attack?"

She felt his back tense, but he said, "Yeah…"

"Must have been hard sharing a birthday with such a terrible event?"

"Well I guess that might be why I never got many birthday presents, huh"

Sakura closed her eyes as she remembered that nobody ever gave him anything on his birthday in class like some of the other students did. She had oncen been given gifts by friends at school before her declaring herself as Ino's rival as after that almost all of the girls drifted apart and sometimes the teachers would announce whose birthday it was, but never for Naruto.

"Why'd you ask Sakura?"

"I…I wanted to know I guess since we're a team we should know when to celebrate."

She didn't need to see his face to know that he was smiling as he said, "I'd like that. Normally the Hokage would take me to Ichiraku. It would be nice to have a few more people show up."

"Aren't you going to ask me?"

"I already know your birthday is March 28," Naruto said surprising her.

"How…"

"A teacher announced it once and your friends brought you presents," Naruto said making her feel bad.

"That was when we first started at the academy Naruto," Sakura said surprised. "The year after that we all stopped being friends."

"I can remember things you know," Naruto said looking back at her with a smile.

"Really," she said jokingly.

"Hey," he said and although he sounded indigent she knew he wasn't offended.

Remembering her birthday the year after declaring her intentions to woo Sasuke, she was reminded of how disappointed she had felt since only one person had given her a gift. Thinking back she remembered that she had thought it was Sasuke since it had no name attached to it. When she had opened it she had found a ribbon for her hair. It had been a reddish-orange and she had almost worn it the next day to school but had opted to wear the one Ino had given her on the day they met. Looking back she knew it had been silly to think it had been from Sasuke but chalked it off to the follies of youth. But Naruto wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility deciding to ask she said, "Naruto, the next year I received a gift from someone but they didn't leave a name. Was that you?"

"Yep," he said, "But I guessed you didn't like it as you never wore it."

"Why didn't you say it was from you?"

"I didn't think you'd accept it then," Naruto said sadly.

She wished she could say that he was wrong, that she would have graciously accepted it but couldn't so said, "Naruto, thank you. I did like it. I just didn't wear it because the ribbon I always wore before was a gift from Ino. She gave it to me when we first became friends."

"If I had known you liked it I would of gotten you one every year," Naruto said. The earnest way he said it and despite her never giving him anything in return really solidified for her that it was the people around the jinchuriki that made them loners, not a desire of the poor people selected to host the Bijuu.

Tightening her hold around him she whispered, "Thank you Naruto." However this time she meant for keeping her and the village safe from the nine-tails.

"You already thanked me Sakura," Naruto said his tone showing he was a little confused.

Before she could respond they arrived at her home, so standing on her own power thanked him again before heading inside. Going up to her room she searched through one of her drawers pulling out the small box the ribbon Naruto had given her had been in. Inside was a handmade card that read, "For the most beautiful girl in the whole village."

Pulling the ribbon out she really should have known it had been from Naruto due to the color. Taking her headband off she placed it in her hair and had to admit it didn't look bad. It almost made her wish that it was wider, as she would have taken the metal plate of her headband off and put it on the ribbon if it had been a little bigger. Figuring she could use it with her normal clues, she put it on her dresser and got ready for bed.

As she waited for sleep to come, she came to the conclusion the Naruto was the jinchuriki of the nine-tails. But what she should do next was what she wasn't sure about. Should she tell him she knew? While she was sure that would make him happy, especially since she would tell him it didn't bother her. She believed she would prefer that he tell her himself, as then it would mean that he had come to trust her. Deciding to keep her revelation to herself for now she felt her eyelids get heavy. Allowing sleep to overtake her she vowed to one day prove to Naruto that he could trust her with his secret and maybe even something more precious.

* * *

Sasuke was angry, not an unusual state of being for him, but today it wasn't the normal cool undertone of anger and hatred he carried around for his brother. Today it was directed at Naruto. It had been bad enough to see how he handled the guards at Gato's headquarters. Yet what he saw today seemed to discredit everything that he had come to learn about the boy. Almost as if he had been lying to them from the beginning about his being the dead last loser of the academy as it was the only explanation that he could think of.

He had decided to see what his teammates were getting up to together while they waited for Kakashi. He had also begun to come later to the meeting point opting to train in the privacy of his home. However, both Naruto and Sakura's increase in skill was beginning to really bother him. He had done as his brother had said and lived to hate him while dedicating his training to the express purpose of destroying Itachi. So then why were the loser and one of his annoying fan girls improving faster than him?

To answer that question he had decided to spy on them. They had been resting apparently figuring it was late enough that Kakashi would show soon. It had been a flippant question by Sakura as she had simply asked, "Naruto just how many clones can you make?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. "I think a couple hundred."

Sasuke had scoffed, but Sakura had said completely serious, "Would you show me?"

"Sure Sakura," he said standing again. Creating the cross hand sign that Naruto used for the shadow clone jutsu Sasuke almost laughed as only five clones came into being. He was surprised when it appeared that Sakura was disappointed, almost like she expected him to actually do it. He found that annoying as she had been there when Kakashi had said that at most he could make was three. The loser could make five and although Gato's guards at the dock claimed to have been assaulted by more it was becoming apparent to Sasuke that they obviously had simple been overwhelmed by having to fight an actual ninja.

However, Naruto blew that thought away when he said, "Sorry, I guess five's just my go to number." Making the hand-sign again, he held it longer until chakra began to surround him and once the smoke cleared Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes as the whole training field was covered in clones.

Sasuke had left only to return shortly later but was surprised when Sakura didn't immediately tell Kakashi. Surely she must have felt it was abnormal, but instead she acted as if it was only natural for Naruto. Was that why she was hanging with him lately? Because she felt he was better than him now? Granted he wanted her to leave him alone for years, but found the idea that he was being replaced by Naruto of all people insulting.

What was worse was the supposed training they were receiving from Kakashi. He'd taught himself more dangerous jutsus then the masked shinobi had shown them. When he made a point of it Kakashi had only said that they were proceeding at a level normal for recently graduated genin and that the Wave mission was a fluke. That annoyed Sasuke. How was he supposed to awaken his eyes if they weren't going to be put in danger? Itachi had mastered the Sharingan at age eight. But the world had still been in chaos then having just finished the Third Great Shinobi War. So there had been plenty of opportunities for him to awaken them. Sasuke was finding the peace detrimental to his ambition.

Leaving the Uchiha compound he decided there was only one way to proceed. He'd challenge Naruto to a fight. Not a training spar where they were expected to hold back. He needed to test himself and felt that for the moment at least Naruto was the only one who could.

He found him and the pinkette leaving the restaurant that Naruto was always going on about. A quick look inside showed him a pile of dishes but none where Sakura had been sitting. Has she simply stayed to watch him eat?

They were both obviously surprised by his being there with Sakura saying, "Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

Ignoring her, Sasuke said, "Naruto, I want you to fight me."

He could see Naruto liked the idea, but it faded as he said, "We'll spar tomorrow at training. I'm too full to fight."

As Naruto began to walk away with a pleased Sakura, the Uchiha said, "What's a matter Scaredy Cat."

Naruto stopped before he turned glaring at the Uchiha saying, "What was that?"

"Let it go Naruto," Sakura said trying to pull Naruto with her.

He allowed himself to be pulled along, but again stopped when Sasuke said, "Humph, going to allow her to boss you around now."

"Sasuke leave him alone," Sakura said angrily surprising the Uchiha.

Snapping he said, "Be quiet Sakura this doesn't concern you."

"I'm a member of Team Seven," Sakura shot back.

"The weakest member," Sasuke said, "makes me wonder who the true dead last of the Academy was."

Sakura looked hurt, but the glare on Naruto's face made it worth it as he said, "Take that back."

"Why, were you attached to the title of being the biggest loser? Is that why you're afraid of accepting my challenge?"

"No," Naruto said angrily.

"Good then let's go," Sasuke said turning assuming Naruto would follow him.

Naruto looked to Sakura who shook her head no, but taking her hands of his arm said, "I'm sorry," before following after the Uchiha.

Sakura knew nothing good was going to come of a fight between her teammates. The best scenario she came up with was Naruto losing and that was simply because he'd train harder. But something told her if Sasuke lost that the anger she often sensed directed at Naruto and recently her would only grow stronger. Not sure how to stop them on her own she went in search of Kakashi hoping he could.

* * *

Naruto felt a little dirty for accepting Sasuke's challenge, since he felt he let Sakura down. But Sasuke had been one of the people he dreamed of one day surpassing so saw the coming match as an opportunity to see how far he had come since graduating the academy.

Standing at the training field where Team Seven was formed he smiled saying, "You ready to go down?"

However Sasuke apparently didn't feel like friendly banter scowling at him saying, "Don't hold back."

"Don't worry," Naruto said tightening his headband, "Today's the day I show you I'm not the deadlast anymore."

Sasuke charged as soon as Naruto got into his stance not messing around. Naruto blocked before throwing a punch that Sasuke caught. Pulling Naruto toward him he threw the blonde over his shoulder. Naruto rolled to his feet creating five clones causing Sasuke to say, "You're going to need a lot more than that, Naruto."

The first clone attacked going for a kick to the head that Sasuke blocked but was swept off his feet by a clone coming up behind him. Sasuke touched the ground with one hand preventing him from hitting the ground. But he barely blocked as the next clone closed with him throwing a punch that knocked him back, right into the grasp of another clone that spun him around. Disoriented he failed to block a kick to his chin which knocked him into the air. Landing hard on his back, he glared at Naruto as he sat up due to the smirk on the blonde's face.

"Fine," Sasuke said, "Time to take the kiddie gloves off."

Standing, he set himself preparing for Naruto's next charge. He didn't have to wait long as all five Naruto's attacked at the same time. Sasuke caught the first punch thrown at him throwing the clone into another one. The two clones exploded into smoke, freeing Sasuke to kick the clone that was trying to come up behind. Now with only two Naruto's left he said smiling, "Only two left, loser. I told you would need more."

But Naruto refused to give into Sasuke's taunts instead dispelling the remaining clone causing the Uchiha to say, "I told you. You're going to need more clones."

"Say it after you beat me," Naruto said.

Growling, Sasuke charged Naruto throwing several punches that the blonde blocked due to all the sparring with Sakura. As he blocked Sasuke's attacks, Naruto really marveled at how much his time with Sakura had helped him as instead of using clones to overwhelm his opponents defenses, since Sakura asked that he not use them, it made him more reliant on reading his opponents.

He smiled a little internally as Sasuke's attacks got sloppier and sloppier due to his frustration of not landing a solid blow against him yet. Opening a gap in his defense, he wasn't surprised when Sasuke took it lashing out with a kick that caught him in the chest. But since he was already falling back he lessened the damage. But when Sasuke tried to press his supposed advantage, he was surprised when Naruto recovered quickly and hit him in the chest.

Sasuke quickly found himself on the defensive again getting angry he managed to kick Naruto away. Flashing through several hand signs he took a deep breath and then breathed a stream of fire at his opponent. As the fire hit where his opponent was standing he heard Sakura scream, "Naruto!"

* * *

Sakura found Kakashi at his home. Banging on the door he answered holding his book in his hand. Despite the situation brewing, she idly wondered if he ever put the book down. "Where's the fire, Sakura?"

"Sasuke challenged Naruto to a fight," Sakura said hurriedly.

"I was afraid this would happen," Kakashi said throwing his book in the room and taking off towards the training grounds.

The pair arrived just as Sasuke's jutsu hit the blonde. Kakashi heard Sakura's scream and he was just about to move hoping that Naruto somehow avoided it, when a rumbling at Sasuke's feet drew his attention. Sasuke noticed it to, but too late to avoid as Naruto emerged using the headhunter jutsu, clocking Sasuke in the chin with an uppercut.

Glaring up at the blonde who glared back they were about to start up again when both Sasuke and Naruto were pinned by clones of Kakashi. "What do you two think you are doing?" Kakashi said angrily. "This is not how teammates are supposed to act."

Naruto looked ashamed while Sasuke simply stared up coldly at him. Sighing he said, "Tomorrow the two of you are going to perform whatever D-ranked missions that we get without pay. If this happens again, I'll see about getting the pair of you suspended. Do you both understand?"

"Yes Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, sad he disappointed his teacher.

Sasuke simply nodded. The clones dispelled allowing both boys to stand. Sasuke immediately took off not even bothering to look at any of his team. Naruto looked like he wanted to say something but after opening and closing his mouth several times decided to simply head home. Sakura watched both her teammates head away from each other and asked, "Kakashi-sensei, why'd they do it? Why fight each other so hard?"

Sighing Kakashi said, "Sasuke's ambition, if you remember is to kill a certain man. However, the man is probably one of the greatest shinobi of this age. He felt confident in his ability in the academy because he was standing at the pinnacle of his world. Being thrust into the much larger world of shinobi he feels threatened by Naruto and you."

"I can understand Naruto," Sakura said, "but me."

"Don't underestimate yourself. Both you and Naruto have made some rather large strides due to your helping each other. As a result of your influence Naruto's become a little less brash and plans out his strategies more, and you aren't afraid to leap in and mix it up. Do you remember the first Hokage's saying of Heaven and Earth?"

Sakura nodded saying, "That the best shinobi are ones that find balances between their body and mind."

"Exactly," Kakashi said, "Anyways, go home and get some rest, it'll probably be a pretty tense day tomorrow."

* * *

It had been a long and trying day for Team Seven. Although, Sakura tried to play peacemaker between her teammates, both boys had spent most of the day glaring at each other. What was worse for the sensei of Team Seven was the summons he had received. He knew what it was for, and didn't know exactly what to do now. He figured he'd let the other Rookie Sensei go first before making his decision.

Entering the roomful of Jounin, he sat towards the back, but was forced to come forward as the Hokage said, "Let us here from the leaders of the Rookie Teams first."

"I, Kurenai Yuuhi, Leader of Team Eight whose members are Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame, do hereby nominate my squad for the Chunin Exams."

Kakashi could hear the clamor as the first rookie team in five years was nominated for the exams. It rose in volume as Asuma also nominated his team.

Feeling all eyes on him he said, "I, Kakashi Hatake, squad leader of Team Seven whose members are, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki, do not recommend my team for the Chunin Exams." As expected the room exploded in volume as they began to speculate why the team with the Rookie of the Year wouldn't be participating. He heard a few shinobi suggest it was due to Naruto.

Before he could give his reason the Hokage demanded silence saying, "Very well, let us move forward, Gai what about you."

Listening with half an ear as Gai nominated his team, Kakashi hoped that in the end he made the right decision in refusing to let his team participate. But now that the decision was made, would just half to live with the outcome whatever it may be.


	4. Chapter 4 The shared burden

**An:** Thank you all for reviewing as always, your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit**

**Chapter 4: The shared burden**

He was just a clog in the machine, and not even a very important one as he bowed to his master. Although the headband on his head said that man would be the Hokage, the truth was he served the Third's former student Orochimaru. "Ah, if it isn't Kabuto's sensei," Orochimaru said with smile, finding it amusing the spectacled man carried that title when Kabuto could probably easily handle him and his teammates combined, "Report."

"As instructed I have nominated the team to enter the Chunin Exams," the jounin spy said.

"Good, but why do you feel the need to report this to me in person," Orochimaru said wearing his disguise of the Sound team's sensei.

"Because Lord Orochimaru. Sasuke Uchiha's team has not been nominated."

"Is that so, any ideas why?"

"Only a rumor my Lord, but if it's true, Sasuke and his teammate got into a fight the day before the nominations."

"I see, well that could be useful when the time comes. Thank you for the information, you are dismissed."

The jounin left and a moment later another spectacled individual entered, "Sometimes the way you four scurry around trying to earn my favor can be quite tedious, Kabuto. Although, one has to wonder how you heard the news before him."

"Oh I didn't Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto said with a smile, "It's just unlike him, I'm not afraid of incurring your wrath by giving you bad news."

"True, he must have been hemming and hawing about it for a while. Still, it isn't all bad news. No doubt young Sasuke will be quite upset when he learns he is being barred from competing."

"It will present a hindrance for placing the curse mark on him," Kabuto said.

"Let's not worry about that for now. I think I have a better idea."

"Oh, what would that be?"

"Simple, I'm going to provide him with the means to awaken those magnificent eyes of his," Orochimaru said licking his lips, "and should I be capable of doing that, then no doubt he will gladly accept my mark in order to reach his goals."

* * *

Sakura was worried since it was the second day Naruto hadn't shown up early to train with her. She had sort of expected it the day after his fight with Sasuke, but since normally he bounced right back had expected him to show up today. Kakashi had told them to be at the bridge at eleven so Sakura decided to find him.

She didn't have to search hard as he was on the bridge they normal met Kakashi at. He looked up and noticed her but instead of waving happily he looked away. Wondering what was a matter with him she made her way towards him. He tried to smile but it faded quickly. Frowning to herself she was about to ask him what was going on, yet was stopped by a yell of, "Boss."

A little of Naruto's pep returned as Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon ran up to him and whom he met half-way. "What's up, Konohamaru?"

"Don't tell me you forgot Boss," Konohamaru said moving around Naruto cutting him off from the bridge, "Today you said we'd play ninja."

"Sorry Konohamaru," Naruto said, "I did forget."

"Well that's alright, let's go."

"I can't," Naruto said, "I have to meet Kakashi-sensei here."

"But you promised," Konohamaru said disappointed.

"I know," Naruto replied, "But Kakashi-sensei kind of sprung this on us after training yesterday. I guess it might be a…"

Sakura eyes widened as Naruto trailed off believing she understood what was bothering him. He thought Kakashi and maybe her were mad at him. Not having had a lot of people in his life he was no doubt worried that he had pushed them away.

"Well I guess it can't be helped," Konohamaru said, "but you better play with us tomorrow."

Naruto nodded and Konohamaru looked like he was going to walk away till he asked, "By the way Boss, who is she?"

"That's Sakura," Naruto replied, "She's my…"

"Girlfriend," Konohamaru supplied. Sakura was surprised to feel her face heat up at the boy's statement and noticed a similar blush on Naruto's. She felt a little sad as Naruto quickly corrected the boy saying, "No, she's my teammate. We're just friends."

"Ah I get it Boss," Konohamaru said, "No sense in settling down right away."

"I guess," Naruto said.

"Besides, I'm sure you could do better, after all she has a huge freaking forehead," Konohamaru said.

To Naruto it felt almost as if it went from a pleasant sunny day to the dead of winter as all heat faded from the area. Looking up at Sakura, who was behind Konohamaru, he actually took a step back as her green eyes almost appeared to be a demonic looking white and it was like she was sucking in light making the area near her darker.

Sakura brought her hands together and cracked her knuckles before asking, "What did you say?"

Unfortunately Konohamaru didn't recognize the danger saying without looking back, "Well you have to admit your forehead is quite large. Right Boss?"

Looking at Naruto, he wondered why his rival was shaking almost like he was afraid. Suddenly, Naruto lurched forward grabbing Konohamaru around the midsection and taking off. Konohamaru was about to ask why till the ground where he had been standing exploded into dust. Looking back he saw Sakura standing there her fist on the ground and a small crater where he had been standing.

When her eyes met his, Konohamaru was positive he had just laid eyes on the angel of death. Sakura shouted, "Bring him back here Naruto," before taking off after the pair.

"Calm down Sakura," Naruto shouted back, "He didn't mean anything by it."

However Sakura was beyond listening chasing after them with a speed she had never shown before. Feeling fearful for his continued well being Konohamaru said, "She's gaining on us Boss."

"This is all your fault, Konohamaru," Naruto said looking back and seeing she was gaining. For a moment he considered letting Konohamaru go to fend for himself but rejected the impulse.

Unfortunately, since Naruto wasn't looking where he was going he slammed into a group of people hearing a, "Hey watch it," from the person he slammed into.

Picking himself up, he helped Konohamaru stand before he noticed the girl he had slammed into. Her two teammates looked annoyed at him, but the girl sat there dumbfounded as she stared up at him with her red eyes. Rubbing the back of his head he said, "Sorry about that."

The girl though was still in her own little world thinking, "_His chakra's so warm_." Actually closing her eyes to bask in it she felt an edge of darkness buried beneath it adding, "_Oh and there's a little something dangerous about him too. I think I'm in love_."

However one of her teammates saying, "Get it together Karin," forced her back to reality. Excepting the hand up from the blonde she fell on him slightly, pretending to be a little light headed and smiled as she basked in the feeling of his chakra.

Sakura had calmed after Naruto had crashed into the unfamiliar shinobi, but seeing the red head drape herself over him felt her anger begin to boil again. "Excuse me," Sakura said pushing the girl back off of a blushing Naruto gently. Addressing Naruto, she asked, "Are you okay Naruto?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Sakura," Naruto said wondering why she was directing a glare at the girl he crashed into.

"Good," Sakura said sending him a tight smile before looking at the shinobi whose headbands identified them as Grass shinobi. Cautiously she said, "Not to be rude, but what are Grass shinobi doing in Konoha?"

"We're here for the Chunin Exams," one of the red-head's teammates said. "Now we are late for registration so we'll be on our way."

Sakura nodded, but frowned when Karin took a step closer to Naruto saying, "I didn't catch your name."

"Naruto Uzumaki," the blonde said holding out his hand, "future Hokage of the Leaf."

Karin smiled saying, "Well, I'm sure I'll be seeing you again, Naruto," and then followed after her teammates.

Sakura was pretty sure that if she could emit death beams from her eyes the Karin girl, who was walking away with way to much sway in her hips to be normal, would be a smoldering corpse. She was just glad that the girl was setting her sights on probably the most clueless boy in the entire Leaf Village. However she felt a little feeling of dread when Naruto said, "She smelled pretty."

"What," Sakura asked shocked.

"Her perfume," Naruto said, "It smelt real pretty." His mood dropped again as he noticed Konohamaru had taken off and said, "It's getting pretty close to when Kakashi-sensei said to meet, we better get going."

Sakura nodded, but wanted to ask Naruto what was bothering him. However before she could he stuck his hands in his pockets and began walking away with his head down. Biting her lip, she refrained from prying but vowed if he didn't cheer up later she'd find away to make him.

* * *

Sasuke made his way to the bridge having noticed several foreign shinobi teams. Guessing that meant the chunin exams were around the corner, which he was sure probably was the reason Kakashi had summoned them on a day he normally gave them off. Arriving at the bridge, he saw Naruto leaning against the side of it and for a change Sakura wasn't near him.

Taking his usual spot he settled in to wait not giving in to the temptation to glare at Naruto. They didn't have to wait long as almost as soon as he got comfortable their teacher arrived. "Hello," Kakashi waved trying a little too hard to sound cheerful.

When nobody replied he thought, "_Oh-boy this isn't going to go over well_." Figuring to get it over quickly he said, "Alright, the reason I've called you all here today is yesterday the Jounin-sensei were summoned by the Hokage. The reason was so he could find out which teams would be nominated to participate."

"So when are we supposed to show up?" Sasuke asked.

"You aren't," Kakashi replied. "I didn't nominate Team Seven."

Kakashi was surprised when Naruto wasn't the one that shouted, "What!" Instead that honor belonged to Sasuke. Naruto on the other hand, simply dropped his head even lower if that was possible since he seemed down about something.

Sakura trying to keep the situation calm said, "Well none of the Rookie Teams were nominated right?"

Kakashi noticed that Naruto's head picked up at that and felt bad when his saying, "I'm afraid Team Seven was the only team not nominated, Sakura," caused the blonde to begin to sulk again.

"You can't be serious," Sasuke said upon hearing that. "How can they be ready, but we not be?"

"That would be because none of the other sensei's had to stop a fight between two of their students. A fight, where one student used a C-ranked fire jutsu on the other."

"That has nothing to do with whether or not we are ready," Sasuke countered.

"It has everything to do with it," Kakashi retorted feeling a small vestige of anger at his student. "Do you even know what a chunin is? A chunin is expected to be a leader of genin. He can't let things like pride get in the way of what is best for his team. By engaging in that fight, both you and Naruto proved you aren't ready for the exams."

Sasuke looked like he wanted to say more, but realized it was pointless so instead simply crossed his arms. Feeling uncomfortable Sakura said, "So then what will we be doing instead?"

"We'll have to pick up the slack for the other teams," Kakashi said. "It probably won't get hectic until after the first two tests of the chunin exams. We'll probably get a few C-ranked escort missions as nobles and such will be arriving to watch the third match. Until then it'll be business as normal. Any questions?"

Seeing none he dismissed them and frowned as two of the members headed off in separate directions with Sakura watching Naruto leave sadly. Shunshining away he hoped he made the right choice in barring his team's entrance in the exams.

* * *

Naruto felt horrible after Kakashi dismissed them. Bad enough he had disappointed Sakura by accepting Sasuke's challenge, but now because of it he was responsible for her not being allowed to compete. He was vaguely aware of somebody running to catch up. He was a little surprised it was Sakura but tried to smile at her.

"_She's probably going to tell me how upset she is about not getting to compete_," Naruto thought disappointedly. Although, felt that was unfair to her, as she had been nothing but supportive since Team Seven formed.

Which was why he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised when she said, "Well that's a relief isn't it?"

It must have shown on his face because she giggled slightly saying, "Did you think I wanted to enter the exams or something?"

"I…I..." he stuttered a few times before simply nodding.

Smiling she said, "Well I'll admit I'm not thrilled Ino-pig was nominated, but I can't seriously say I wanted to be in the exams. I mean, we have only been out of the academy for a few months. I can't imagine Rookie's like us are nominated all that often."

Although he knew Sakura was trying to cheer him up it was actually doing the opposite so he blurted, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry," Sakura repeated confused, "What do you have to be sorry about?"

"About not listening to you and fighting Sasuke," Naruto said.

"Well don't let it happen again," Sakura said jokingly. "I'm not mad Naruto," she added seriously. "You did try to walk away. Sasuke goaded you into fighting him."

"But still…"

"Naruto," Sakura cut him off softly, "Let it go. You made a mistake. A mistake that sounds like it worked out to my benefit because I'm not sure if I would have wanted to compete so soon, and I doubt if they would have let just you and Sasuke compete."

"What do you mean Sakura?"

"Well think about it," Sakura said smiling as Naruto did so literally his face scrunching up as he concentrated.

He didn't appear to try very hard as a minute later he said, "I give up, tell me."

Laughing lightly she said, "Well the reason Kakashi-sensei didn't nominate us was because of poor teamwork. So that means despite being an opportunity to advance to chunin we will be competing as a team in at least a few of the tests." Naruto appeared to be hanging on her every word so she stopped and wanting him to make the connection himself prompted him saying, "And…"

"And," Naruto repeated before suddenly saying, "That means all of us needed to enter."

"Exactly," she said giving him a dazzling smile that caused him to blush a little as he thought how pretty she was. Continuing she said, "And if Sasuke's reaction was anything to go by, he'd want to compete which means he'd probably try to pressure me into doing so as well."

Naruto nodded, feeling better and said, "I won't let you down again Sakura."

"You haven't yet," Sakura said in a way that touched Naruto. "But promise me if he tries to pick a fight with you again, you'll walk away."

"I promise," Naruto said to which Sakura nodded despite having a feeling that another fight between her teammates would be inevitable.

* * *

Sakura looked around as she approached Naruto's apartment building. She didn't know how but for some reason that Karin girl had kept showing up at places her and Naruto had been. She was beginning to get really upset, especially since the girl had issues with keeping her hands to herself. Even though she had only found out about the Chunin Exams the day before she was already wishing they were over.

However, it did provide her with the kick she needed to put a part of her plan to get Naruto to open up to her into action. She was beginning to wonder if Kami had some sort of fetish about trying to hamper her ability to find love. Granted, she had known what she was getting into with Sasuke after all there had been a lot of girls who had feelings for him before her. Yet, she was wondering why it was that now that she was interested in Naruto it seemed other girls maybe coming out of the woodwork as well.

Pushing that aside for now, but swore if she caught that Karin girl flirting with Naruto again she'd send her packing, she knocked on the door of Naruto's apartment. She wasn't surprised when it took a few minutes for him to answer. When he did answer the door she couldn't help the small laugh that escaped as Naruto answered the door wearing the silliest sleeping cap she had ever seen as he rubbed his eye.

Seeing Sakura at the door woke him up quickly and he said, "Sakura? What are you doing here? Did we have training today?"

Holding up one of the books she brought she said, "In a manner of speaking." Naruto seemed confused still so she asked, "Are you going to let me in?"

Stepping aside he said, "Yeah, sure sorry."

Entering Sakura stopped at the door as she saw the filth Naruto lived in. Almost afraid to enter she had a hard time keeping the revulsion from her face. She guessed she didn't succeed as Naruto asked, "What's wrong, Sakura?"

Deciding honesty was the best policy she said, "Well honestly this apartment is kind of filthy. Not exactly the type of place you would want to bring a girl too." But upon seeing how embarrassed Naruto now looked said, "But it isn't anything a little elbow grease can't fix. Where are your cleaning supplies?"

Naruto pointed to his sink in the kitchen and excused himself to change. He came out of his bathroom a moment later to see that Sakura had already begun getting things in order to begin cleaning. Sakura turned to look at him, noticing that Naruto's eyes were drawn to the ribbon that she was wearing in her hair.

"Is that the…"

"The ribbon you gave me," Sakura said with a smile, "Yes it is. Do you like it?"

"It looks as good as I imagined it would," Naruto said giving her a smile that made her blush.

"Yeah," Sakura said looking away, "Anyway we should probably get started."

"Sure," Naruto said excepting a garbage bag from her. As the two worked they often smiled at each other. At one point Sakura was picking up an old Ramen cup when the biggest cockroach she ever saw sprang out of it. Backpedaling as she dropped the cup as she slipped on a piece of trash but luckily before she crashed to the ground Naruto caught her. Leaning up against his chest with his arms around her Sakura was surprised at just how right it felt to be in Naruto's arms even if it was an accident.

Turning in them she felt an urge to kiss him but resisted it fearing it was to forward. Taking a step back she said, "Thanks."

"No problem Sakura," Naruto said wishing she was still in his arms.

Getting back to work it was another several hours before both of them collapsed on the couch. Looking over the apartment Naruto said, "Wow, I can't remember the last time it was this clean."

"Probably right before you moved in," Sakura said teasingly

Naruto looked at her hurt before smiling and saying "That would probably be about right."

"Try to keep it clean," Sakura said flicking his forehead.

Rubbing the spot Naruto said, "It's just such a bother."

"That maybe, but living in a pigsty would send the wrong message to people," Sakura replied.

"What people, Sakura?"

"People that might one day recommend you to be Hokage. You might become the strongest ninja in the village, but I don't think people will want a slob representing them."

Naruto guessed he could understand that and said so before asking, "So why did you come over Sakura? I don't think it was to clean my apartment."

Getting up from the couch and grabbing the book she brought that was on the principals of physics, Sakura said, "I came over to tutor you."

Making a face that showed he wasn't thrilled by that idea he said, "Thanks, but no thanks. I graduated the academy."

Sakura considered telling Naruto she knew how he did that but instead said, "That may be true, but I'm betting it wasn't due to your school work."

Again he appeared nervous but jokingly replied, "No, I graduated because I'm an awesome shinobi remember."

"That might very well be the case," Sakura said seriously, "but there's no substation for knowledge."

"Ah come on Sakura that stuff is boring," Naruto whined.

Sighing she said, "Please Naruto. Besides Kakashi-sensei said something to me that has kind of stuck with me."

"What was that?"

"He said we've had a positive effect on each other by balancing each other out," Sakura replied. "You've made me more confident in my physical skills. I want to help you with more mental ones. Also, a Hokage will have to rely on his brain more than his brawn." Seeing that Naruto was bordering on the fence of accepting she said, "But let me show you a way it can be used on the battlefield."

Looking around she found two marbles. Heading to the kitchen she grabbed a cup and then returning placed it on the side of the couch on its side. Kneeling at the opposite end she said, "I'm going to get one marble to enter the cup."

The look on Naruto's face showed he didn't think she could do it but he didn't say anything. Rolling the first marble she waited until it reached the right point and then rolled the second one even faster than the first. When it hit, the first marble shot off to the side hitting the cup and rolling inside. Sakura smiled up at him and grabbed the cup jingling it to show it to him. Naruto began clapping but said, "But what does reading a book have to do with that, which was a neat trick by the way?"

Holding up the physics book she said, "Because every object reacts in a set way Naruto. By throwing that second marble faster I was able to calculate how the first would react when hit. Now imagine if they were kunai, you'd be able to hit a target behind an object."

"Really, Naruto said, "That would be a cool trick."

"Yep, but the principles behind that trick are located inside those boring things called books," Sakura said smiling as Naruto scooted over making more room for her.

Glad he seemed willing to try her idea; she sat down next to him folding her legs under her and opened the book saying, "Lesson one: An object at rest stays at rest unless…" As she began explaining the three laws of motion she smiled internally that Naruto was willing to better himself, confident that one day he would reach his dream of being a Hokage like no other.

* * *

Sasuke was returning home after another wasted day with his team. But what really bothered him was he had watched Naruto and Sakura training while they waited for Kakashi and it seemed Naruto was working on the trick that Sasuke remembered Itachi often practiced. Although, Sasuke had already mastered the trick seeing Naruto working on it angered him.

He was also upset that he had heard that several members of the Rookie Squads had made it to the final round that would be held in a month. He was almost home when he saw a bruised Ino sitting on a bench near the entrance to the Uchiha district and who had lost in a preliminary round to a Sound kunoichi. Ignoring her as he walked past, he noticed that her hair had been brutally cut almost like someone had been making a point.

"Sasuke," she said weakly.

"What?" he replied, wishing she had just let him be.

"Well I…I was just…"

"Spit it out," he said annoyed.

"Do you think I'm a worthless kunoichi?"

"Hn," Sasuke said not answering and simply turning to walk away.

Ino felt anger well up inside her at the dismal saying, "You fucking prick."

Sasuke turned surprised saying, "What did you call me?"

"After all these years I've spent wishing to get closer to you. The one time that I ask you for a little comfort you blow me off."

"Whose fault is that," Sasuke said squashing down the anger he felt. "I've never asked you to waste your time chasing after me. What's more you've let your training slide to the point that considering you as a possible matriarch of my clan would almost be laughable." Turning around he entered his property saying, "Now if you'll excuse me I'm done wasting time here."

He hadn't even finished his sentence before Ino had taken off running away with tears in her eyes. Already moving on to more pressing matters, he wondered how it was Naruto was getting stronger and stronger off of the weak stuff Kakashi had taught them so far.

* * *

Kakashi was surprised when the toad had been sitting on his doorstep after training. Arriving at the rooftop it had directed him to he said, "Lord Jiraiya."

Turning towards Kakashi the Toad Sannin said, "How have you been Kakashi? Finding being a team leader as rewarding as Minato did?"

Sighing Kakashi said, "Well it makes me wonder how he made it seem so easy."

Jiraiya frowned slightly saying, "I trust Naruto isn't the problem."

"Not exactly," Kakashi said, "But his improvement is making it worse not better."

"I see," Jiraiya said, "You must be wondering why I wish to talk."

"A bit."

"I'll be taking over Naruto's training from here on," Jiraiya said.

The Toad sage was surprised when Kakashi said, "With all due respect, Naruto is my student."

"True, however his status as a jinchuriki has made him a marked man. You're good Kakashi, but I don't think even you can get him ready for what he has to face."

"Look Lord Jiraiya, I can understand you wanting to train him. But your timing couldn't be worse. I'm already having trouble with my team. If Sasuke learns Naruto is being taken in as your apprentice I'm afraid of how he'll react."

"Tough," Jiraiya said without much sympathy, "I don't have time to soothe the Uchiha's ego. There is a group called the Akatsuki that has been on the move lately acquiring objects of power. They've also been placing out feelers for the location of the jinchuriki. What's worse is that at one time Orochimaru was a member, and any group that would accept him has to be up to no good. Now I'm not asking you to let me train Naruto. I'm telling you that is what is going to happen understand. I've already cleared it with the Hokage."

Kakashi rubbed his loan eye not liking what it would mean for his team but nodded. Easing up slightly Jiraiya said, "I'll do my best to keep it from the Uchiha. Why don't you offer to take him under your wing? Make him think you'll be giving him some one-on-one training. You know make him feel special."

"Yeah," Kakashi said, "But I do have one request."

"What is it?"

"Sakura has been spending a lot of time with Naruto, help her along too."

"I don't know Kakashi," Jiraiya said, "A lot of what I want to teach him, are jutsu specific to his father."

"Trust me Lord Jiraiya. By not including her, you'll only be making her more curious."

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow but nodded. "Well then tomorrow you'll be accepting a C-ranked mission to escort an author to Konoha. I'll see you at the meeting point."

* * *

Sakura was in her room and sighed since Karin had made it to the final round and had asked Naruto to take her out to celebrate. Naturally, he had recommended Ichiraku which was the only reason she probably hadn't invited herself along. Since she was sure Ayame would at least hinder the girl a little due to her protectiveness of Naruto.

Hearing a pounding at the front door she hoped it was Naruto begging for a place to hide from said girl. However, instead she was greeted by the sight of a weeping and bruised Ino. Controlling her sobs she said, "Sakura…can I come in?"

"Of course Ino," Sakura said allowing the blonde into her home. "Let's go up to my room."

Ino nodded following Sakura up the stairs to the pinkette's room. Having not been in it in almost six years, she was surprised it remained almost exactly the same as she remembered. Unlike hers which featured new pinup posters of Movie actors or whoever the hottest guy of the time was. Sakura's was rather sparse only featuring a mirror, dresser and a desk which was covered in books.

Sakura pulled out the desk's chair for Ino sitting on the bed asking, "What's wrong?"

"Everything," Ino said between sobs. "Today was the end of the second test."

Gaining a look of distaste as she thought of Karin, Sakura said, "I know, but what happened?"

Rubbing her eyes Ino said, "After spending five days in a training ground called the Forest of Death, we were forced to fight some preliminary matches. I ended up fighting a Sound kunoichi called Kin." Thinking of her match Ino sobbed a little saying, "She completely decimated me. Even worse…was after hitting my arms and legs with senbons she began cutting my hair saying how pathetic I was."

"Ino, I'm so sorry," Sakura said soothingly.

"It gets worse," Ino said, "I tried to talk to Sasuke to see if he felt the same way about me as I did about him. I don't know hoping maybe seeing me all beat up he'd try to comfort me. But he couldn't be bothered. In fact he tried to blow me off till I called him a prick."

Sakura giggled a little at that which brought a slight smile to Ino's face, but it didn't last. "I guess that Sound Kunoichi was right. I am a worthless kunoichi."

Sakura didn't say anything till Ino asked, "Do you think I'm a worthless Shinobi as well?"

"No, Ino I think you were just like me and concentrated on the wrong thing," Sakura said. "You have all the tools you need to be a great kunoichi. You just need to refine them through training."

Standing Sakura pulled some scissors from the drawer of her dresser and then said, "Here let me straighten out your hair."

"Thanks," Ino said allowing Sakura to maneuver the chair in front of the mirror.

Beginning to cut it Sakura asked, "So what else happened?"

"Well a kunoichi named Tenten beat Kiba pretty handily since she never missed with all her senbon. Hinata got beaten up pretty bad by a fellow Hyuuga by the name of Neji. According to my sensei they were cousins. It didn't sit too well with Neji's teammate though as he leapt to her defense before Neji could do any real harm to her. He was kind of heroic looking despite the hideous eyebrows of his. Anyway Lee, the eyebrow kid, he ended beating up Kin's teammate Zaku pretty easily too since he moves so quickly."

Looking at what Sakura was doing Ino said, "Hey, you're making it look like when I was younger."

Sakura nodded saying, "Do you not want me too?"

"No it's fine," Ino replied. "Where was I?"

"Eyebrow's I believe." Sakura said resuming cutting Ino's hair.

"Yeah, well after that match Shikamaru ended up beating Chouji. Although the truth is he bribed Chouji into forfeiting by telling him he'd take him to the barbeque restaurant he likes so much."

"I'm surprised Shikamaru would bother."

"Well apparently he was afraid his mom would find out if he forfeited."

Sakura nodded so Ino continued saying, "That creepy kid Shino ended up losing to another of Kin's teammates named Dosu. A sand Kunoichi was going to fight a leaf shinobi named Kabuto but he forfeited at the last minute. Another Suna kid that used a puppet beat Kabuto's teammate who could drain chakra. Then there was the last Suna-nin who faced Kabuto's last teammate."

Ino stopped a moment looking a little pale at remembering what the red-head did to the boy. "Maybe I shouldn't continue."

"Go ahead," Sakura said still cutting.

"Well he killed his opponent," Ino said, "He crushed him with sand which he seemed to be able to control."

Sakura stopped in mid cut, remembering what the book said about the jinchuriki of Suna. Ino noticed saying, "Sakura are you alright?"

"Yeah," she replied resuming her task, "You said he can control sand."

Nodding her friend said, "He didn't even need to move it simply attacked while he stood there with his arms crossed."

"Did he have any unusual features?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well did he sort of have a feature that reminded you of an animal?"

"Well now that you mention it, he had these dark circles around his eyes that sort of reminded me of a raccoon. But he was dangerous Sakura he almost seemed to enjoy killing."

"_If he is a jinchuriki_," Sakura thought, _"I wouldn't doubt it's because of how he was treated_." But aloud said, "Guess it's a good thing my team wasn't nominated then."

"Why wasn't it?"

Telling Ino about what happened between her teammates she finished her tale and haircut saying, "There, what do you think?"

Looking in the mirror and seeing her hair shorter like when she had first met Sakura, she said, "I like it. I think it'll go along with the new me." Looking at the time Ino added, "Wow it's already nine o'clock. My parents might be getting worried. Bye Sakura."

"Wait Ino, one last question what about a kunoichi named Karin?"

"Oh her. Her teammates both pulled out but she lucked out getting a bye to the third round of the exams." Sakura cursed internal, but kept her smile in place as she waved to Ino as she, left before going in search of the red-headed boy Ino had described.

* * *

Naruto wasn't sure why the Grass kunoichi kept popping up everywhere he went. But figuring it would be nice to have another friend so didn't mind. Having taken her to Ichiraku he was telling Ayame some of the things that Sakura had taught him, "…Then apparently the First Great Ninja War was started when a shinobi from Grass succeeded in assassinating a daimyo from Suna and because of the treaties all the other shinobi nations got pulled into their conflict."

Ayame giggled saying, "My Naruto, I've never seen you so excited about history before."

"Well Sakura says that a Hokage should be aware of such things so mistakes like that aren't repeated." Naruto noticed a slight frown on Karin's face so asked, "What's the matter?"

Trying to smile despite Naruto's continued talking about his teammate she said, "Oh, I guess it's just hearing my village was what started the First Great War reminds me why I don't like it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I wish I could say things have changed there, but they really haven't," Karin said. "We do business with all sorts of dirty people."

"Then you should try and become the village leader to change it," Naruto said nonchalantly while slurping down some of his broth.

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple," Karin replied with a sigh, "It's one of the reasons that for a minor village we're one of the richest. Which is for the right price, we'll pretty much do anything."

"Well if you can't change it you should leave," Naruto said paying for him and Karin before waving good-bye to the ramen stand workers.

"You make it sound so easy," Karin said wishing she was as carefree as the blonde.

Thinking of Mizuki he replied, "Well shinobi defect all the time, right? If your village is as corrupt as you make it sound. Why not find something on them that one of the other villages could use and trade it for a place among its forces."

"Hey, have you ever thought of defecting from the Leaf?" Karin asked saddling up to him as they walked, "because if so I wouldn't mind running away with you."

Unaware he was being hit on he said, "Nope, but I was caught up in another shinobi's defection plot so have some idea of what is needed."

Surprised Karin asked, "This shinobi, did he make it?"

"No," Naruto said with a shake of his head, "I caught him. But he wanted to leave the Leaf for money and power. You sound like you want to live up to some sort of ideal."

"Not really," Karin said, "But there is a boy I wouldn't mind seeing everyday if I did it."

"Really so you've already picked out a village to move to," Naruto said.

"Yeah, I think I have," Karin said with an enigmatic smile.

* * *

Sakura not for the first time questioned her sanity for heading out at night in search of Suna's jinchuriki, due in part to Ino's description that he seemed a little unstable. However the temptation to talk to him openly about his status as one proved too much to ignore. After over an hour of searching she found him sitting on top of a building listening to some wind chimes.

Approaching so that he could see her coming she wasn't surprised as he said, "What do you want?"

Sakura was nervous so stammered out a, "Uhm…Hi….my name is…"

"Go away," Gaara said dismissing her presence as not a threat to his existence, "or I'll kill you."

"There's no need for that," Sakura said taking another step forward which she regretted as a ribbon of sand shot out of Gaara's gourde wrapping around her neck and lifting her in the air.

As she tried to pry it off Gaara said, "We may be allies but I won't warn you again, leave."

"Please… I just want to talk…I know you are a jinchuriki," Sakura managed to get past her constricting throat.

"Then you should know better than to approach me," Gaara said although he placed Sakura back on the ground and retracted his sand. "Unless you are this village's weapon and wish to test your own existence against me."

Sakura raised her hands and took a step back saying, "No…I'm not the jinchuriki."

"Then why seek me out," Gaara asked his emotionless face giving nothing away.

Figuring the truth was the best way to go in this situation she said, "Because I know who the jinchuriki of the village is and…"

"Who?" Gaara cut in his eyes seemingly to fill with a certain amount of blood lust.

"I can't tell you," Sakura said.

Gaara took a step towards her but she stood her ground. "I could hurt you until you tell me," he said without emotion.

"You'd have to," Sakura shot back defiantly. "He doesn't know that I know, and I want to keep it that way until he tells me. I sought you out so I could talk to you. To maybe get a better understanding of him and to also be your friend."

Gaara's eyes went wide for a moment, but he turned away saying, "I have no need for something as pathetic as friendship."

"You're lying," Sakura said. "I read in a book that people consider jinchuriki as loners. But you aren't, it's something that the rest of your village forced on you until you came to believe it yourself. Everyone wants friends Gaara. I know that because the jinchuriki of Konoha was alone too. But he hasn't given up trying to make them and he has. You can too."

"How many assassination attempts did he have to survive before he made friends?" Gaara asked his unemotional voice making it difficult to tell if he was joking or not. However something told Sakura jokes weren't a part of Gaara's conversational skills.

"None," Sakura said, "at least I hope that's true. But a teacher did try to use him once as a scapegoat and the village seems to see him as the creature he is locking away." Gaara didn't respond, so Sakura said, "Alright I'll leave, but my offer still stands. Please consider it because nobody wants to go through life alone Gaara."

Gaara watched the girl run over the rooftops confident he could find her later if he wanted. However whether it was to talk to her or kill her he hadn't decided.

* * *

Naruto was bored as they waited at a traveling house near the Taki Border. His team had accepted another C-ranked escort mission but so far it had yet to truly begin as the client was so far a no show. "When is this guy going to get here Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked hoping the answer was soon.

"I don't know," Kakashi answered looking up from his book, "he should have been here over an hour ago."

"Great, he must have taken lessons on punctuality from you sensei," Sakura said causing Naruto to chuckle.

"So how does it feel to be the one waiting around for a change?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, I don't mind," Kakashi said lightly, "as long as I have something to read I'm okay."

A shrill scream of, "Pervert," followed by a slap, cut into their conversation. A moment later three women in bathing suits came storming out of the brush. Coming up behind them was a older man in red holding up a hand as he chased them saying, "Wait please come back. I couldn't help watching you three like that as I was captivated by your beauty."

"Get away from us, you old coot," one of the girls shouted picking up her pace.

Running in front of the man Naruto shouted, "They said leave them alone."

"Out of the way brat you don't understand the ways of women they obviously are just playing hard to get," the white-haired man said.

"I understand that you're a dirty pervert, just fine," Naruto said.

"A pervert," the man replied indignantly the women forgotten, "Why, I'll have you know I'm an author of great books. Books, which require that I regularly bathe myself in the sights of beautiful women in order to deliver only the best material to my avid readers." He punctuated his sentence by holding up one of his works.

Kakashi immediately began to say, sounding creepily perverted himself, "You are the author of Make-out paradise?"

Making himself sound important the man said, "Ah, you've heard of my works."

"Heard of. No, worship them as the masterpieces they are Lord Jiraiya," Kakashi said.

"Jiraiya," Sakura said having recognized the name, "Not the Jiraiya, one of the legendary three?"

"Indeed I am," Jiraiya said proudly, "and if you are here waiting for me then you must be the shinobi I hired."

"Indeed sir," Kakashi said playing up the star struck angle he had set for himself, "It will be our honor to watch over you as you return to Konoha."

"Good," Jiraiya said, "Well let's get going as I would like to be at the next village by sunset as they have mixed bathing hot springs."

Taking off after the eccentric man, who was actually skipping as he sung to himself about the joys of research, Naruto had a hard time picturing him as the Jiraiya that Sakura had told him about in her tutoring session on the Second Great Shinobi War.

Sakura apparently did too as she asked, "No offense Lord Jiraiya, but why would you require an escort."

"Well because I'm retired," Jiraiya said, "and what's the use of having money if you're going to have to fight your own battles. By the way you're pretty cute. What's your sign?"

"Hey perv don't talk to Sakura like that," Naruto jumped in.

"Oh is she your girlfriend kid," Jiraiya said causing both young teens to blush. "Ah young love, maybe I'll write a book which features you two."

"Why would I want to be in one of your trashy novels you pervert," Naruto shot back.

"Look here kid," Jiraiya said standing in front of the group, "I don't think you realize who it is you are talking to." Rolling his neck he began hoping on one foot saying, "I'm the Sage of Mount Myoboku. Men fear men and women adore me for I'm the wild and crazy Jiraiya."

All of Team Seven looked at Jiraiya as if he was rather sad and pathetic even Kakashi had a hard time keeping up the act of being a star struck fan. As Jiraiya stood there waiting for some sort of applause or something, Naruto began walking around him telling Sakura, "I can't wait to reach Konoha so we can drop off this Pervy Sage."

Sakura giggled as she followed him. Sasuke also walked past letting out a, "Hn." Wondering how a fool like the one they were guarding could have amassed the reputation he had. Kakashi was last placing a hand on the motionless Jiraiya's shoulder before following his team. A bird screeching overhead pulled him out of his momentary funk as he shouted chasing after them, "Hey was the hopping too much? Guys…aw come on. Don't you know who I am?"

A few hours later the five of them arrived at the town in question. Immediately Jiraiya began chasing after a group of you women. As the older man made a fool of himself, Kakashi said, "Naruto, why don't you keep an eye on our client."

"Me, aw come on Kakashi make Sasuke do it," Naruto complained.

"Well Sasuke and Sakura are going to come with me to get a hotel room and secure it. I suppose I could send Sakura if you want…"

"I'll do it," Naruto said not liking the idea of Sakura being left alone with the raging pervert.

"Well then you better get after him," Kakashi said.

Turning Naruto saw the pervert was gone. Cursing he handed Sakura his pack and took off into the crowd listening for the sound of women screaming. After a thirty minute search he found the man peeping through one of the fences for the local hot spring. "There you are," Naruto said.

No sooner had the words left his mouth then he found the man next to him clamping a hand over jaw. "Shhhh, are you trying to get me caught?"

Naruto nodded his head, causing Jiraiya to say, "I wouldn't if I were you kid. Don't forget I'm a legendary ninja and would be able to get out of here before you. You wouldn't want that pink-haired girl to think you are a pervert now would you?"

Naruto shook his head so Jiraiya said, "Good, now do your job and keep watch for me." Grumbling Naruto did as he was told and listened with half an ear as the Toad Sage began mumbling to himself while writing in a notepad. After almost an hour Naruto was getting impatient, but apparently Jiraiya felt he had enough material and got up.

Once they were far enough away Jiraiya bit his thumb and summoned a large orange toad much to Naruto's amazement. Handing the full notepad to the toad Jiraiya said, "Put it with the others would you." The toad nodded before croaking and disappearing into smoke.

"That was awesome," Naruto said, "teach me how to do it."

"Hm, I don't know," Jiraiya said, "You were kind of disrespectful earlier."

"Please," Naruto said, "Umm, I actually thought your books were kind of good."

"Liar," Jiraiya said, "The sale and reading of my art is prohibited to those under the age of eighteen. Sorry kid, you can't butter me up by telling me blatant lies."

Naruto sighed figuring he knew a way to get Jiraiya to teach him but probably wouldn't like it. Disappearing in a cloud of smoke he reappeared as his Sexy jutsu self and said, "Please Master Jiraiya."

Jiraiya stood motionlessly for a moment before his eyes seemed to pop out of his head as he said, "Ah, she's beautiful. Kid, how'd you make her?"

"This is my sexy jutsu," Naruto said.

"Oh it's sexy alright, you are a certified genius. Alright kid you've got a deal." Turning from Naruto he poked his fingers together saying, "On one condition that is."

"Condition? What sort of condition?"

Giggling perversely Jiraiya said, "That you train like that?"

Dropping the henge Naruto shouted, "I knew it you're nothing but a little perv."

"How dare you kid? I'm not a little perv."

"Oh yeah then what are you?"

"A big one," Jiraiya said, "but besides that. I do sense some small amount of potential in you. So I'll teach you this jutsu once we return to Konoha. But you'll have to keep it a secret. Alright?"

"Even from Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"For now," Jiraiya replied not sure if he could trust the girl just yet.

Naruto was conflicted by that which Jiraiya could see so he said, "My techniques are super secret and can only be shown to those I choose so…"

"I agree," Naruto said not liking it. But the stronger he got the better he would be able to protect his friends. Besides once he mastered them. They would be his and he'd be able to show them to who he chooses one day the first of course being Sakura.

* * *

Sakura couldn't wait to get in the bath, although they had been gone for a week, she had been nervous every time she bathed fearing Jiraiya would spy on her. Therefore the last day on the road she hadn't been able too, since they had camped outside. Entering her room, she looked at herself in the mirror before grabbing the hem of her shirt about to pull it right over her head. She spared one more look in the mirror except found that Gaara was occupying it as well. Turning she shrieked and reacting on instinct tried to slug him.

Gaara's sand caught the punch and he said, "Is this how you react to people you claim you want to befriend?"

"It is when they sneak into my room as I'm about to undress," Sakura replied.

"Sakura honey is everything alright," Sakura's mom asked knocking on the door.

"Yeah mom just a spider surprised me," Sakura responded.

"Okay dear," her mom replied heading back downstairs.

Blowing out a breath Sakura said, "Whew, I don't want to think how she would react if she knew a boy was in my room."

Gaara confused asked, "Why?"

"Because that's just how moms are," Sakura said, "isn't your mom like that?"

"My mother's dead," Gaara said. "She was sacrificed to make me into Suna's weapon."

Sakura placed her hands over her mouth cursing herself for a fool saying, "Gaara, I'm so sorry."

Gaara didn't seem to care one way or the other saying, "You've been gone for over a week, where have you been?"

"An escort mission," Sakura replied. "But I was given the rest of the month off. By the way, why have you been looking for me?"

"I was trying to decide whether to kill you or not," Gaara said calmly.

"_What did I get myself into_," Sakura thought but said, "I take it that you've decide not."

"For the moment," Gaara replied walking towards her desk. Looking at the books on it he said, "Why have you taken an interest in seals."

"I told you, I'm trying to understand more about my friend," Sakura said. "By understanding more about seals I'll…"

"Be able to see whether or not the creature controls him," Gaara said.

"No, I know it doesn't. Just like it doesn't control you," Sakura replied.

"Are you sure, I can hear it you know?"

Sakura's eyes widened but she said, "Tell me. What is it telling you to do now?"

"To kill you," Gaara said.

"But you haven't," Sakura said.

"Because for the moment you intrigue me," Gaara countered.

"That may be, but I obviously don't intrigue the Bijuu. Tell me could you always hear it?" Sakura asked.

"No, it became clearer after my uncle tried to kill me."

Sakura shock her head wondering just how could Suna be so horrible to him, but it proved her point. The seal, even Gaara's seemed to work based on the jinchuriki's will, to keep the beast locked away. Obviously when his uncle betrayed him Gaara's seal weakened enough where the Bijuu was almost a constant whisper in the boy's ear. "Well since it appears for the moment you aren't going to kill me," Sakura said trying to sound flippant but probably sounded nervous, "How about we go out to get something to eat?"

Gaara studied her for a moment before nodding. So Sakura said, "But first can you please leave so I can change my clothes." Gaara disappeared into sand which floated out of the window. Drawing the curtain closed, Sakura did another search around her room just to be sure and then changed.

After telling her mom she would be leaving she met Gaara outside. Figuring she'd take him to Ichiraku she said, "So I heard your entire team made it to the finals you must be happy."

"Why?" Gaara asked.

"Uh, because…" Sakura replied lamely, "Do you not like your teammates?"

Gaara simply looked at her for a while causing her to say, "Should I take that as a no?"

"They are supposedly my brother and sister," Gaara supplied, "But I've never thought of them that way."

"Why?"

"They lived with my father, while I was raised by my Uncle."

"The one that tried to kill you," Sakura said to which Gaara nodded. "Still, I'm sure they care for you."

"They're afraid of me," Gaara said.

"Well not to be mean, but Duh," Sakura said. "I've only seen you twice and you've threatened to kill me both times." Gaara didn't kill her so she guessed it was okay to continue, "I know it's hard, especially since your uncle betrayed you. But if you want to become close to people you have to let them in and not threaten to kill them."

"Sakura," the familiar voice of Naruto said as they entered Ichiraku.

"Hey Naruto," Sakura said happily due to one of the reasons she planned to head to Ichiraku was so Naruto and Gaara would meet. "Gaara, this is my teammate Naruto."

"Is this the…"

Sakura cut Gaara off saying, "Yes, this is the boy that can eat fifty bowls of ramen," she ended her sentence with a chuckle that petered out.

"That wasn't…" Gaara was about to say.

Sakura glared at him in a way that for the first time in his life he believed his existence would end if he finished his sentence. Gaara wasn't sure why he didn't try to kill the girl as a result, but decided to keep quiet.

Naruto for his part said, "You're acting weird Sakura."

Sitting next to him while motioning Gaara to the stool next to her she said, "I'm not the only one. I thought you would have a fit when Kakashi said he'd be taking Sasuke on a mission without us."

"He also said, it was more of those boring escort missions," Naruto said.

"Still Sasuke didn't seem upset which means he's probably getting some special training from Kakashi."

"Yeah, I guess I didn't think about that," Naruto said. "Oh well."

Sakura instantly knew the blonde was up to something due to his dismissal of Sasuke getting special training. Vowing to find out what she decided to drop it for now saying, "Naruto, Gaara's from Suna and is participating in the Chunin Exams. He made it to the final round."

"Wow, you must be pretty strong," Naruto said, "Do you want to spar sometime?"

"Are you testing my existence?"

Naruto looked towards Sakura confused so she quickly said, "No Gaara. Naruto's dream is to be Hokage. Since you made it to the final round he simply wants to see how strong he is compared to you. But he doesn't want to fight you in order to hurt you."

"Wow, do they train that hard in Suna?" Naruto asked.

Sakura wasn't sure, but Gaara said, "No, most do not."

"Okay," Naruto said returning to his meal happily.

Gaara watched the two interact and for the first time in a while began to hope he could relate like that with people. He also was positive that the blonde was the jinchuriki he had been warned of by the spies that Sound had in the village. He also found it a shame that in three weeks time he'd probably have to kill both of them.


	5. Chapter 5 Trust

**An:** I would like to thank everyone that has reviewed as always. Also I apologize it has taken so long to update but my writing time is severely limited at the moment. However, thanks for all the kind words, S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit**

**Chapter 5: Trust**

Sakura was highly annoyed as she left the ramen stand with Gaara following behind her. The reason for her sour mood was Karin who had once again tracked down Naruto. Granted finding him at Ichiraku around meal time was nothing special for those that knew the boy. However, Sakura was starting to suspect that the Grass-nin had a means of locating people she wanted to find. The only bright spot being Naruto had offered to walk her home despite Karin's arrival at the stand. That, as well as the confidence that Naruto still possessed feelings for her, was the only reason she didn't take him up on the offer.

The other reason had left with her. She was suddenly reminded of his presence as Gaara said, "He was the jinchuriki, wasn't he?"

Sakura knew it was more of a statement of fact then a question. And despite her reservations against confirming it for him, knew that if she was going to befriend Gaara she needed to be honest so nodded. His reply was to say, "He doesn't have the same eyes as me."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"He doesn't seek to prove his existence," Gaara replied in his monotone voice, "He doesn't seek to destroy those who stand against him."

Sakura looked sadly at the Sand Jinchuriki before saying, "I…I guess that is because his dream is to one day be Hokage."

Gaara stayed silent for a good portion of the walk towards her home before saying, "That doesn't make any sense. Does he not understand the people of this village despise his very existence?"

Thinking of all the cold looks that Naruto received and the way the blonde looked sometimes when he didn't know she was watching, Sakura said, "He knows."

"Then why not destroy them," Gaara asked making it sound like the most natural course of action to take.

"I guess he's forgiven us," Sakura said including herself, due to her previous treatment of the boy.

"Even though most of the villagers still feel the same?"

"Naruto…Naruto is special," Sakura said believing her statement more and more the longer she knew him. "I suppose his desire to become Hokage originally stemmed from his wish to be recognized…," Sakura began, but upon thinking of Haku and Zabuza added, "but I think he understands now that being Hokage means more than recognition. But that it also comes with the responsibility to protect all those precious to him, and that means the entire village, even the people who don't like him very much."

"That doesn't make any sense," Gaara said.

Sakura didn't reply, not sure of how she could convince Gaara. The red-head didn't seem to care allowing the matter to drop. Passing near the river that ran through the village Gaara asked, "Why do you not tell him you know about what it is he carries?"

Sakura stopped, moving towards the river before gazing into it. She could see Gaara staring at her due to their reflections in the water. Thinking for a moment she said, "Because…I want him to tell me."

"What difference does that make? The outcome is the same," Gaara said his face showing none of the confusion his question did.

"It matters…" Sakura began surely before whispering more gently to herself, "…it matters." But to Gaara she said, "I guess it would mean he trusts me."

"Would he not trust you more if you told him?"

"Probably…but it would be different."

"How?"

Sakura felt like she was explaining something to a toddler for a moment feeling a slight annoyance at having to analyze her relationship with Naruto. However, she squashed it quickly, knowing that Gaara, much like a toddler, truly didn't understand since he probably hadn't been shown a lot of affection as a child. Turning from the river she said, "Because if I told him I know Naruto may come to trust me more…but it would mean he doesn't trust me enough now. " Thinking of the possibility of starting a relationship with the blonde she added, "And if we are going to move forward, we need to have that trust."

"Is trust that important?"

"Yes, all positive relationships rely on trust…losing trust in a person that you placed it in can fundamentally change a relationship making it go sour."

"What sort of relationships?"

"All of them," Sakura quickly responded, "friends, teammates…," blushing a little as she mentioned it said, "… and lovers. Losing trust can destroy all of them." Hoping she wouldn't upset him she added, "Take you for instances."

"Me!" Gaara said clearly surprised.

"Yes you," Sakura said feeling more confident due to the boy's response. "You said your Uncle tried to kill you." Gaara narrowed his eyes, but Sakura persisted, "It hurt didn't it…not physically…but in your heart" when Gaara gave a tentative nod she continued, "The reason was because your uncle betrayed your trust. Since he was your family you trusted him to watch over and protect you. His attempt to take your life destroyed your trust in your family bond. So much so, that you do not view your siblings as being family."

"They have never treated me as family," Gaara said quickly.

"I know Gaara," Sakura said sadly, "But their opinions may have been shaped by your father or even swayed by the rest of the village. However, have you ever gone out of your way to prove those opinions wrong?" Gaara didn't respond so she took that as a no. So as to not be accusatory she said, "I guess that is why Naruto's eyes are different. He isn't trying to prove he exists; only that people are wrong about him."

Sakura noticed that a light of understanding went off in Gaara at her words. An understanding that Naruto and him weren't all that different only that the way they viewed and interacted with others was. Whether that meant Gaara saw another path opening before him or not she couldn't say, but she truly hoped he could find some measure of happiness.

They were about to resume walking when a female voice called out, "Gaara."

The boy turned towards it saying coldly, "What do you want, Temari?"

Sakura could tell that Temari was very hesitant to reply, undoubtedly afraid of the boy. Having probably seen many of the cold blooded ways Gaara had killed his enemies she supposed she couldn't fault the girl, even if she was a little disappointed. Temari's eyes swept over her a moment before saying, "Where have you been? You know Baki-sensei doesn't want us going off on our own."

"I'll do what I want," Gaara said, but began heading towards the hotel the Suna team was staying at.

Temari returned her attention towards Sakura asking the girl, "And who would you be?"

Before Sakura could respond Gaara said, "A friend."

Temari's stunned gaze returned towards her retreating brother before bringing her attention to Sakura and to the pinkette it appeared a look of jealousy was in the girl's eyes. Most likely brought about because of a wish on her part to make her brother view her as an older sister, the look only lasted a second before her emotional training kicked in and she left to follow after her brother.

Sakura waved goodbye before returning home. Although Gaara didn't return the gesture he had seen it and admitted it felt good to be able to say he had a friend. However a hurt similar to the one he had felt when his Uncle had tried to kill him stabbed at him. He was fairly certain it stemmed from what he was being asked to do to Sakura's home when the invasion began. Knowing that by calling her a friend and her not refuting it meant she was placing trust in him, wondered what he could do to change Konoha's future for the better.

* * *

Jiraiya watched Naruto struggle to summon anything bigger than a tadpole. He sighed as the boy failed again, but smiled as Naruto immediately tried once more. He and Naruto had been at it for over a week and Jiraiya began to believe he would have to take things to the extreme.

Jiraiya wondered how Kakashi was coming along with Sasuke, whom he had been taking on escort missions to give him one on one instruction, while they saw the nobles safely to the village. Not that he cared what happened to the Uchiha. Just he feared what having Naruto and him on the same team meant for Naruto's future. As it was, Jiraiya saw far too much of Orochimaru in the Uchiha to feel comfortable with. Since all that the boy truly cared about was power and was jealous of anyone that had more. Jiraiya believed the Uchiha had better get used to being the second banana of the village as he planned to make Naruto into the finest ninja Konoha ever fielded.

He frowned as he thought of his home. The place that seemed to have done its best to ostracize the closest thing Jiraiya felt he had to a family. It made him wonder if the thirteen years he spent away were worth it, as he was sure if he had been a more active presence in the boys life, instead of spying on Konoha's enemies, Naruto would already be the talk of the village. The guilt he felt over leaving his godson behind was the reason for his and Kakashi's little act upon the mission where he had met the grown Naruto for the first time, as he had found it a lot easier than to tell the boy the truth. Not to mention, if he brought up he was Naruto's godfather it would undoubtedly raise lots of questions in the blonde about who his parents were.

Standing as Naruto failed again he thought, "_Looks like more extreme measures are going to be needed if he's to call upon the nine-tails_." Calling out to the blonde he said, "Hey Naruto let's take a break. Tell me, what's your favorite food?" before he mumbled, "Because it may be your last."

* * *

Sakura was confused why Naruto had asked her to meet him, since he often would disappear after their morning training and she wouldn't see him until the next morning where he would look extremely worn down. Giving voice to her confusion she asked, "So what is this all about Naruto?"

Naruto pointed his fingers together mumbling something. Recognizing the signs that he was embarrassed and partly scared, she stood a little straighter hoping that he was about to tell her the truth about his status as a jinchuriki. He mumbled something at first that she couldn't make out so as soothing as she could she said, "It's okay Naruto, you can talk to me…about anything."

Naruto responded to her words, his spine straightening a little before sending a look towards a corner of the walkway they were on. Sakura's attention shifted that way but she didn't see anyone. Returning her attention to Naruto she heard him ask, "Well the….thing is….do you think it would be alright if I hug you?"

The surprise of what he asked must have shown on her face because he quickly added, "It's important to my training…"

"Training, what training?" Sakura asked confused and a little hurt, as it seemed that he was keeping more secrets from her not less.

Naruto picked up immediately that he screwed up as his face scrunched up since he hadn't told Sakura due to Jiraiya. Lamely he replied, "Uhm…the secret training, that I can't really talk about it."

Sakura stepped closer to him and for a moment Naruto looked like he was afraid she was going to clobber him. That was why he was surprised when she threw her arms around him giving him a tight hug. During the embrace she whispered, "I wish you would tell me."

As it ended Naruto looked torn between being on cloud nine and guilty due to the hurt he had heard in Sakura's voice. His mouth open and closed several times, but he wasn't sure of what to say so settled for thanking her before taking off due to his embarrassment.

Sakura also felt embarrassed, but also felt rather pleased that an embrace from her had that sort of effect on Naruto. Her smile faltered as she noticed that he disappeared around the corner that he had glanced at. Although she hoped for the day where he would tell her everything, decided that she would at least pry this once. If only to learn who it was that had made hugging her a part of his training and maybe thanking him.

* * *

Jiraiya had been surprised when the pink-haired girl had actually hugged Naruto, having been fairly certain that she would clobber him. "_Perhaps things aren't so much like my team as I feared_," he thought sending a glance Naruto's way as he led the boy out of Konoha.

As he watched the boy who still had a smile on his face it was easy to see himself in Naruto, just as it was easy to see Orochimaru in Sasuke. Sakura had been the only one he hadn't been sure about and although Tsunade never had any type of romantic feelings for Orochimaru. She had respected him a lot more than Jiraiya, at least at first, as the three of them had started out on their path to becoming the Legendary Sannin. But seeing Sakura apparently returning some of the feelings the blonde was carrying around for her, sort of took some of the wind out of Jiraiya's, this team is doomed sail. As although many people saw the Sannin as the pinnacle of Leaf shinobi, Jiraiya saw it as also a curse considering how the once close team had ended up and prayed Naruto's didn't follow in his footsteps.

However the hug also forced him to admit that perhaps Kakashi was right and he should take Sakura under his wing a little as it did appear that she genuinely cared for Naruto. Arriving at the point he had scouted earlier he said, "Well Naruto we need to jumpstart your ability to call on that second chakra that you possess."

"I'm still not convinced I have one," Naruto said, "I mean you tried to drain me of chakra and it still didn't come out."

"I know," Jiraiya conceded, "Which is why today's training is so important. Look within yourself Naruto as only you can turn the key and unlock the power I've talked about." Jiraiya then flicked Naruto in the forehead sending him through some bushes and over the cliff.

No sooner had Naruto begun his decent into the canyon then Jiraiya hear, "You fucking bastard." Turning in surprise, he saw a fist closing with his face and when it connected he could have sworn he had been hit by Tsunade.

* * *

Sakura had immediately taken a route out of Konoha during her search for Naruto, since she knew he hadn't been training inside the village, having looked for him multiple times during the week. That left outside of the village, and due to the direction he was heading. She was sure he was going to leave via the west gate so quickly set after him. Upon leaving the village, she searched the ground and found the distinct impression of geta leading away from the village. Since Naruto had begun to appear worn down when they had trained together in the morning right after the mission to bring Jiraiya back to Konoha she believed he was the mysterious trainer of Naruto's.

Following them, she wondered where they were going as the only thing ahead was a wide gorge. She appeared from the brush just as Jiraiya flicked Naruto in the forehead sending him over the cliff. Hearing Naruto's yell of surprise fade as he fell she was overtaken by a white-hot anger and shouted, "You fucking bastard."

The luck on Jiraiya's face may have been comical had she not just witnessed him murder Naruto. Wanting only to knock his head from his shoulders she hit him as hard as she could, feeling a measure of satisfaction as he flew away. He hit a tree hard enough to crack it, but Sakura wasn't surprised as he quickly recovered.

Shaking his head he asked, "Where the devil did you come from?"

But Sakura wasn't listening as he charged him with tears leaking from her eyes as she said, "You bastard… you killed him…you killed him because of that stupid fox he has sealed in him."

Jiraiya couldn't keep the surprise that Sakura knew about the Kyuubi from his face which is why he was almost caught by a second punch from the enraged girl. However, he was still a Sannin and easily stopped it before grabbing her around the throat and pinning her to a tree.

Calmly he said, "Look Sakura…you've got the wrong idea…"

"I saw you…." Sakura tried to say, but stopped as a booming voice shouted, "Jiraiya, where are you?"

The toad Sannin went white saying, "Oh you idiot, you went way overboard summoning him."

Suddenly a blur appeared from the canyon and Sakura could see that at the peak of its jump that it was a giant toad and that Naruto was atop his head. Sakura felt Jiraiya grab her around the mid-section as he began running to hide from the upset sounding toad boss. When he was far enough away he placed Sakura down on a rock before taking one opposite from her.

No sooner had he plopped down then she said, "I should tell the Hokage about you."

"He already knows," Jiraiya said matter of factly.

"Does he know your training includes throwing him off a cliff?"

Jiraiya went a little white at that, but said, "Look Sakura…you have to trust me that I want what's best from Naruto."

Sakura crossed her arms clearly not believing him, but she said, "You say the Third Hokage knows you are training Naruto."

Jiraiya nodded and watched as Sakura seemed to pull into herself analyzing all that she knew and fitting it with the new piece of information she was given. He was still somewhat surprised when she looked up saying, "The mission we were given to escort you here was a ruse then to get you to meet Naruto."

Again he nodded before allowing a small lopsided grin to appear on his face as he thought, "_Clearly, Kakashi was right about her_."

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the tail-end of what Sakura said next catching, "… that's why Kakashi-sensei is training Sasuke on his own, so he won't get jealous of Naruto being trained by a Sannin." Looking up at him she asked, "Why would you take an interest in Naruto?"

"I have my reasons," Jiraiya said cryptically. Hoping to distract her from her current line of inquiry he said, "Now it's my turn. How long have you known about what it is he carries?"

Sakura wondered if she was in trouble for knowing but answered, "A couple of weeks."

"Does he know that you do?" Jiraiya asked getting a head shake of no from Sakura in return.

"I see," Jiraiya said after a moment, "I won't ask you your reasons for not telling him as I'm sure they are well thought out. But what I do have to ask is how did you learn of it?"

The way that Jiraiya said the question made Sakura feel like it was one that had life or death consequences depending on how she answered. Therefore she responded by asking, "Why?"

"Because knowledge of Naruto being a jinchuriki is an S-ranked secret…" Jiraiya said. He trailed of seeing a light appear in Sakura's eyes as if she had received another piece of the puzzle to Naruto's outsider status in Konoha.

Calling her on it he said, "You already suspected."

"Yes," Sakura said nodding, "I realized that all the adults seemed to already know; only the children didn't."

Yeah," Jiraiya replied before bitterly adding, "It still didn't stop…"

"The parents from trying to influence us kids into hating him," Sakura finished sounding just as angry about it. She noticed that Jiraiya seemed to be smiling at her less guarded now as if she had passed some test. Guessing now Jiraiya may answer some of the questions she had she asked, "It was the Third Hokage that passed the law to make the parents keep Naruto's status as a jinchuriki a secret wasn't it?"

"That's right."

Sakura nodded before asking, "Why did the Fourth Hokage use Naruto?"

"I don't know."

Sakura frowned; sure there was a reason behind it. Jiraiya feared the girl would go looking for the answer so said, "Let's leave that alone for now. Why are you so interested in him?" The last report I got from the Hokage indicated you were one of the Uchiha's biggest fans."

Sakura blushed at the first part of Jiraiya's statement but frowned at second. But before she could explain a loud crashing sound near their position drew her attention. What she saw was the toad shaking its head wildly with Naruto holding on for dear life taunting the toad. Getting up frown the rock she was sitting on she said, "Shouldn't we help him?"

"No, he'll be fine. Gamabunta is simply testing him, he won't let anything bad happen to Naruto," Jiraiya said in reply. "Now back to my question."

Sakura sat, but kept a worried eye on Naruto before saying, "I guess I just realized how seriously I had underestimated Naruto. He's kind, and passionate, and he never gives up, and he's willing to sacrifice his own happiness for those he cares about and…"

Jiraiya held up a hand a large smile splitting his face as he said, "Okay I think I get it. Also I'm sorry."

The surprise of a Sannin apologizing to her showed on her face so chuckling Jiraiya said, "Your earlier musing was right, Kakashi did take Sasuke on those escort missions so he wouldn't learn I've been training Naruto. The reason he didn't see to you as well was because he asked me to take you under my wing. He says you're good for the brat." Sakura blushed at that but it disappeared as Jiraiya continued, "I wasn't so sure so ignored his suggestion. Maybe if I hadn't I wouldn't have needed to go to such lengths in order to get him to call upon the Kyuubi's chakra."

"That's what you are teaching Naruto," Sakura asked surprised.

"Yeah, the summoning jutsu was simply the cover I was using to get him to use it," Jiraiya said.

"Why?"

Jiraiya frowned before thinking a moment, when he did speak he said, "Since you've been researching Naruto, I'm sure you realize that due to his status as a jinchuriki he's had it rough growing up." Sakura nodded, so Jiraiya said, "I wish I could say the hard part was over. But his life is only going to be getting more complicated and probably sooner rather than later. Since the Fourth Hokage was my student and Naruto is in a sense his legacy, it's my job to get him ready for those challenges. I feel that the best way he can accomplish that is to master the chakra that Minato entrusted to him."

Sakura nodded, she was going to get up to leave when Jiraiya stood saying, "It would seem that Naruto is going to be busy for most of the day. Why don't we get some training in while we wait?"

Sakura smiled since she assumed Jiraiya was extending an invitation to join Naruto and him in their training. Standing she found a spot to get into her stance, as Jiraiya entered his, knowing she would need to soak up everything the Sannin taught her if she was going to help Naruto face the challenges that Jiraiya was talking about. Charging she promised herself that Naruto would never need to face them alone.

* * *

Sasuke frowned as he walked beside the palanquin of a noble, as they returned to Konoha, due to the slow pace. As it stood they would probably arrive about the time that the third round of the Chunin Exam started. The only upside to the mission was that he was receiving more hands on training from Kakashi without the distractions his teammates represented.

However, Kakashi still refused to teach him any jutsu greater than B-ranked. He was beginning to once again feel frustrated with his growth, especially since he had yet to unlock the Sharingan. Even though they had been attacked by a small group of bandits the weaklings had been no match for him and therefore his eyes still remained unawakened. Kakashi kept trying to drill into him patience, telling him his time would come, but he was tired of waiting. Every day he waited was another day a murderer enjoyed under the sun when he should be underground.

He sensed the enemy before they appeared; looking towards Kakashi he could tell the jounin had too. Kakashi gave him the sign to get ready, and as soon as the first bandit ran from out of the trees Sasuke was already moving to intercept. He immediately knew these men had at least some shinobi training as they were far more skilled then the last group. Dodging a sword slash from one he responded by throwing a kunai that lodged itself into the man's throat. However he received a kick to the chest from another that launched him into the forest. He heard Kakashi shout his name, but knew the Jounin couldn't simply abandon the noble to save him.

Sasuke didn't need saving any way, as he ducked under the man's follow up punch. Spinning around he pulled his Wind Mill shuriken and threw it catching the man in the chest just as he turned to face Sasuke. Walking up calmly he pulled it from the corpse and after wiping the blades on the dead man's clothes folded it, returning it to his backpack.

He was just about to return to the fight when he heard a chuckling sound surround him. Searching about him, he took a step back as a white as a ghost man with yellow snake eyes began to rise from the ground. Meeting the man's eyes, Sasuke felt an overwhelming amount of Killing Intent pour straight into him. Falling to his knees the man calmly pulled a kunai and threw it at him. Sasuke who had seen his death over and over as the man's fighting spirit washed over him, still managed to avoid the kunai. Causing the man to chuckle again as he said, "Good, I would have been disappointed had that killed you."

Feeling the man's spirit lessen Sasuke asked, "Who…who are you?"

"Orochimaru," the man said stepping towards Sasuke.

Sasuke managed to get back to his feet but immediately fell back down as he tried to take a step back. "Sasuke there is no need to fear me, as I've done all this simply to arrange a meeting with you."

That caught Sasuke's attention as he said, "These men work for you?"

"No not yet," Orochimaru answered giving a dark smile, "They are simply auditioning for the honor, but judging from the sounds of combat. I do not think they will be measuring up."

"What do you want with me?"

"Simply to extend an offer," Orochimaru said.

"What sort of offer?"

"The only kind that matters," the snake Sannin replied, "One of power."

Sasuke scoffed, looking at the man he had killed saying, "If these are the men you arr capable of training I doubt you can offer me what I want."

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that Sasuke," Orochimaru said confidently. "Consider for example that fighting a jounin of Kakashi's skill level is a test I give the men who simply wish to join me. Why facing death in such a way is exactly what your eyes need to reach their magnificent potential. Also, I know who Itachi has aligned himself with and can help you find him when the time comes."

"You offer much," Sasuke said defiantly, "What is it you hope to gain?"

"Let's save that conversation for another time," Orochimaru said, "Instead consider my offer after I help you awaken the Sharingan."

"How do you attend to do that?"

"Why by sending people to kill you of course," Orochimaru said beginning to disappear into the ground again, "I'll send one of my agents to contact you when the time is right. Until then consider what I have said, and offer. You need to be challenged Sasuke and there is no greater challenge then staying alive in this world of shinobi, provide you do so away from the safety net that Konoha tries to erect around it's shinobi."

Sasuke watched Orochimaru disappear not turning his back until he was positive the man was gone. Exiting the forest, he found the attackers defeated, Kakashi sent an eye smile towards him tying up the last few prisoners. "Took you long enough," the one-eyed jounin said, "Don't tell me guys of this level gave you trouble."

"No," Sasuke said a hint of challenge in his voice, "did you have trouble with them without me."

Kakashi ignored the implied insult chalking it up to Sasuke still being angry that he refused to teach him more destructive jutsu, in favor of questioning the men positive they were more than simple bandits. Lifting his covered eye he knelt in front of one of the bandits about to ask him some questions when the man began convulsing as did the others Kakashi had caught. Blood began to leak from their eyes and mouths before finally they died.

Sasuke heard the noble behind him pass out at the sight, but Sasuke felt no remorse since these men had failed their test. As he turned away, he considered that perhaps Orochimaru did have something to offer him after all.

* * *

Naruto awoke to find himself in Konoha's hospital; the last thing he remembered was watching the sun beginning to set. He tried to sit up, but all he managed to do was groan. Giving up, he closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again found Sakura leaning over him. "Ahhhh…," he gasped out leaning back further into his pillow.

"Geez thanks Naruto," Sakura said placing her hands on her hips as she leaned back, "you sure no how to make a girl feel special."

"Sakura…" he replied still confused, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, considering you've been unconscious for three days…"

"Three days," Naruto said cutting her off and trying to reach a cup of water.

"Yeah," Sakura said giving him the cup and helping him to sit up to drink it. "You passed out right before the sun set. Lucky for you Gamabunta caught you or else you'd probably be dead." When Naruto finished drinking she bopped him on the head gently.

"What was that for?"

"For not telling me you were training with Jiraiya," she said a little of the hurt that she felt at his still not trusting her with his secrets leaking into her voice.

"I couldn't Pervy Sage made me promise," Naruto said, "But I never stopped trying to convince him to train you as well."

Giving him a smile she said, "I know, he told me. Thanks for that Naruto."

Naruto gave her a bright smile saying, "Well you're my friend and I didn't think it was right that me and Sasuke were getting special training but you were left out."

"Well don't worry I won't be any more since I'll be joining you as soon as you get out," Sakura said.

"Great," Naruto said his smile getting brighter, "Won't Sasuke be surprised at how strong we are when he gets back?"

Sakura frowned a little at the thought of how their teammate would react should Naruto eclipse him in power when he came back. She was just about to caution him not to overdo it in showing off, but Naruto beginning to pull the sensors off of him distracted her. His actions prompted her to say, "What are you doing?"

"I was going to track down the Pervy Sage so we can get started," Naruto said matter of factly.

"Oh, no you don't," Sakura said quickly holding him down, "You aren't going anywhere until the staff tells you that you can go."

"But Sakura…" Naruto began to whine but a quick look in Sakura's darkening gaze made him close his mouth before saying, "Yes ma'am."

"Good boy," she said giving him a hug before quickly leaving to go check with some doctors on his condition.

Naruto couldn't believe that Sakura had hugged him again. His face began to turn red at the realization that he hadn't even needed to ask. He leaned back into the bed a huge smile beaming on his face and considered maybe it would be okay if he asked Sakura to go with him to Ichiraku sometime.

As he lay in bed he began to think of all that had changed for him since becoming a part of Team Seven. The girl of his dreams was closer to him then to the boy she had chased for years and he felt their relationship was changing. He was even considering telling her that he was the vessel of the nine-tails. He was confident it wouldn't change anything, but a part of him was scared it would so he still held back.

He closed his eyes again to daydream a bit of a life with Sakura, but he felt someone looking down at him. Thinking she may have come back, he opened them hoping she was here to tell him he could go, which was why when Gaara was staring down at him he shouted, "Ahhhh…"

A sand hand immediately clamped itself over his mouth, he didn't have to wonder what the boy wanted long as Gaara said, "Be quiet or I'll kill you. Understand?"

Naruto nodded, so Gaara removed the sand from his mouth. Naruto began spitting the sand from his lips but stopped fearing he was making too much noise for Gaara's liking stopped. The red head stared at him for a long time, which was making Naruto nervous, before saying, "You are the host of the nine-tails."

"How…"

"It doesn't matter how I learned of this," Gaara said respecting Sakura's wishes of Naruto not learning that she knew. "Why do you not hate the people who have mistreated you?"

Naruto recognized the pain in Gaara's voice even though to most he would have sounded the same. Making a leap of logic he said, "You have one sealed in you too."

Gaara nodded before saying, "Answer my question."

"I did hate them," Naruto said looking straight ahead. Gaara was clearly surprised by that answer, since he was under the impression that the blonde didn't hate the villagers of Konoha. By the time Naruto looked at him Gaara had schooled his features into his usual mask of calm. Sounding sad Naruto asked, "I take it you weren't treated much better in your village."

"I have been almost killed more times than I can count," Gaara said unemotionally.

"Wow, I'm sorry," Naruto said, "Guess I can't really complain then."

Again, Gaara was caught by surprise by the blonde so he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, sure I was alone and all," Naruto began, "but nobody ever tried to kill me. I imagine the old man must have been watching out for me. But it wasn't just him I had Iruka-sensei, the Ichiraku's, they ran that Ramen stand Sakura took you too, and recently my teammates well at least Sakura and Kakashi. Sasuke's still a bastard but he has his moments."

Gaara felt slightly angry at the blonde for having things so much better than him, but felt it fade as Naruto said, "But I'd be lying if I said that there weren't times when I would have loved to see the village burn. But if I did that…well I guess they would have been right to fear me then. So instead I decided I was going to become Hokage. I'd show them all Naruto Uzumaki was a shinobi Konoha could be proud of. Although I did cause a lot of havoc for a while."

"So you did attack villagers," Gaara said.

"What! No, I just pranked people and stuff," Naruto said quickly. Naruto got the sense that Gaara was looking in on himself and judging by some of the dark stuff he asked might be seeing himself in a new light. Going off of his hunch, he said, "But you know what, even if I had well, my path wouldn't have really ever been set. You know what I mean?"

Gaara looked up at him saying, "No…"

"I'm saying it's never too late to change."

A hope seemed to appear in Gaara's eyes before the boy said, "Thank you Naruto Uzumaki."

"Sure thing," Naruto said giving the boy a thumbs up. "After all I never met anyone with a beast sealed in him before. Maybe when they let me out of here we can have that sparring match."

"I'd like that," Gaara said before moving to the window and turning into sand was blown out of the room.

Naruto stared at the spot Gaara was standing before saying, "How come I don't get cool powers like that?"

Sakura having come back to see Gaara in the room closed the door with a smile. She decided to come back later to give Naruto some time to digest what he learned about Gaara although she doubted he would use it. It had warmed her heart to hear that Naruto considered her one of the people that had saved him from his hate. It also gave her some more insight into the boy and what separated him from Sasuke. Namely, that where Naruto had pushed past the anger he felt, Sasuke was embracing it.

Walking down the hall she tried to come up with a way to help Sasuke get over his hatred as well, but couldn't really think of anything. Therefore, she decided to go to Ichiraku to pick up some ramen for Naruto before asking his advice on the subject.

* * *

Naruto ducked under a punch from Sakura and frowned as the tree she hit cracked. Jiraiya had been schooling her in how to use chakra to strengthen her blows saying it was something his teammate used to do. Sakura still couldn't do it perfectly yet, since Jiraiya couldn't actually instruct her in the means, but he gave her enough pointers to help her along. Something Naruto noticed was helping as the craters and damage her misses caused were getting larger.

The third round of the Chunin Exams was scheduled to begin in a week and Naruto had already purchased a pair of tickets. He had even managed to score some pretty good seats. They had also cost quite a lot of Ryo though. He had overheard Kiba talking about how pissed he was he couldn't watch the matches for free since none of his teammates had made it to the finals. Therefore, Naruto had made straight for the ticket office purchasing two tickets up close to the action. He didn't know why he bought two at first, but realized a part of him probably intended for the second ticket to go to Sakura.

He had been backing away from his stance of asking her out, the only thing keeping him going on it being his vow of never breaking his word. But he believed it wouldn't be breaking it since Sakura had plenty of time to get closer to Sasuke, but had instead chosen to spend it with him.

His daydreaming cost him the match though as he was hit in the stomach by Sakura and was sent flying by her punch. She was by his side in an instant apologizing, but coughing and holding his stomach Naruto said, "Don't worry about it Sakura…oh that hurt."

"Idiot," Sakura said angrily, "Don't tell me not to worry about it and then complain how much it hurts."

"Yeah," Jiraiya added for good measure looking over Sakura's shoulder, "Although you deserve it for daydreaming during a sparring match. Anyways, let's call it a day. I have important stuff to do."

"More like peeking on girls Pervy Sage," Sakura said having learned that not all of Jiraiya's foolish behavior that the Toad Sage engaged in was an act. Most notably, his habit of peeking on women as they bathed.

"I am performing an important service to my readers," Jiraiya said indignantly. "I peek so they can gleam the beauty that I see without having to lower themselves to my level to do it. Wait, that didn't come out right."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Pervy Sage," Sakura said tuning him out.

"Hey don't ignore me," the great sage whimpered meekly.

"So what had you so distracted, Naruto?" Sakura asked waiting until Jiraiya left with his shoulders slumped to stretch her arms over her head.

Naruto blushed as another of the changes he had noticed in Sakura lately became apparent. Namely, that the black shorts she wore with her battle dress, which had started out baggy and loose while covering her knees, had begun to shrink as well as get tighter as her confidence increased. Pulling his eyes away, unaware that she already knew he would look and that the stretch had been for his benefit Naruto said, "Oh, just a momentary distraction."

Giving a tight smile she said, "You know those can be dangerous."

Rubbing his stomach he said, "Tell me about it."

Standing he held his hand out and Sakura watched as the blue ball of chakra formed. He then slammed it into the nearest tree. A spiral pattern formed causing him to curse, but to Sakura the spiral appeared tighter than his previous attempts making her believe he was getting closer to mastering it.

"Darn it," he said, causing Sakura to smile since she had long ago learned that Naruto never really analyzed his attempts simply seeing them as either success or failure. Granted, sometimes he did but that was generally when he was getting frustrated, but when he did he often managed to figure things out. His passing the second phase of the Rasengan training was proof of that although he had scared her to death as the rubber ball blew up in his face sending him flying.

As Naruto began to try again Sakura felt a sensation that had been getting stronger and stronger that there was more to Jiraiya's training of Naruto then she was being told. It had begun the day after Naruto got out of the hospital and she joined him and Jiraiya for training. Instead of continuing Naruto's training in how to summon toads, the Sannin had told Naruto he would be teaching him the Rasengan. Naturally, Naruto was psyched, but Sakura had frowned waiting for a moment alone with the Sannin to ask if she was the reason why.

Jiraiya had put her at ease saying she had nothing to do with it, but that he had realized that Naruto simply didn't have the chakra control necessary to summon successfully in the heat of battle. However, if he could master the Rasengan that control would come in time.

She had bought his explanation at first, but as time passed she began to feel there was far more to it. Namely, why was Jiraiya teaching him jutsu so closely associated with the Fourth Hokage? At first she thought she was being paranoid or overly suspicious, since technically the Toad Contract had been brought to Konoha by Jiraiya. However the Rasengan was pure Fourth Hokage and if Jiraiya truly wanted to teach Naruto chakra control there were far simpler exercises. The water walking exercise he had shown them being a prime example.

Yet, for some reason Sakura refused to look into it to closely. She didn't understand why at first, but watching Naruto hit the tree again with the half formed jutsu she began to get a sense of why. She believed that by looking into there being a connection between Naruto and the Fourth. Outside of the one of the Hokage being the man that cursed Naruto with placing the Kyuubi inside him, that it would be something that she would need to tell him and thereby forcing her to admit to other things as well.

Getting tired of thinking about the mystery she was going to let stay a mystery, at least for the moment, she said, "Let's go Naruto."

Naruto nodded frowning at his latest result before turning to Sakura and joining her in the journey back to the village. He watched her out of the corner of his eye before asking, "Are you going to eat at Ichiraku?"

She turned to him saying, "Sorry, I can't. My mom wants me to eat at home tonight."

Naruto looked away but frowned since during the past few weeks she had eaten with him almost every night. Although, he could understand her mom wanting Sakura to eat at home.

Sakura caught the frown so asked, "Why don't you come over to my house to eat tonight?"

Naruto turned to look at her in surprise and a smile appeared which quickly faded as he appeared scared for a moment. Turning to look ahead he said, "Thanks, but I wouldn't want to impose."

Now it was Sakura's turn to frown as she knew why Naruto refused, which was for all his bravado he truly feared new things. Eating at Ichiraku was safe, the people there accepted him. Leaving that safety for the uncertainty that her house would represent was rather daunting to him. She was just about to push the issue though when he said, "Besides, she probably didn't make enough for an uninvited guest."

"You aren't uninvited," Sakura said quickly and ardently, "I invited you."

"Still, I'm sure your mom only wants a family dinner tonight. You have been spending a lot of time at Ichiraku with me," Naruto replied.

"Are you saying you want some space?" Sakura asked.

"What no, you know I always enjoy spending time with you," Naruto said quickly, "only I'm sure your parents want to see you too, and I wouldn't want to intrude on that."

Sakura nodded accepting his excuse causing a small look of relief to appear on his face, catching it she said, "Fine, then I'll tell my parents tonight that next week you'll be eating over. Is that alright?"

The look of relief vanished, but he nodded. Sakura was torn between feeling happy and slightly upset at herself since she couldn't be sure how her parents would react. She simply hoped that given advanced warning they would at least be civil to him.

Naruto although nervous at the prospect of meeting Sakura's parents took her insistence as the sign he was waiting for. Deciding to go for it, he said blushing and sounding nervous, "Sakura…well there's been something I've been meaning to ask you."

Sakura blushed a little as a result of his tone but wasn't sure why, trying not to sound nervous herself she said, "What is it, Naruto?"

Poking his fingers together he said, "Uhm…well…the thing is I have some tickets to the third round of the exams and was hoping you would go with me. I mean it doesn't have to be a date. Since I know you said you wanted to concentrate on your training. But, well I really wanted to go and don't want to go alone so hoped that maybe you would…"

Sakura found the way he was rambling rather cute, placing a hand on his cheek he stopped talking and she said, "I'd love to go with you."

Naruto smiled which she returned and the two settled into silence as they walked the rest of the way to Sakura's house. When they arrived Sakura could see her mom looking out the window, obviously getting nervous since it was getting close to dinner time. She also noticed that her mom frowned ever so slightly upon seeing who she was with. In plain view of her of her mom she gave Naruto a hug good-bye and said, "You can consider it a date if you want to, Naruto. I'll see you tomorrow."

Naruto walked away swaying a little making Sakura feel really good about agreeing to go. Granted, she would have preferred her first date with any boy be something more akin to a dinner and a movie. But, knowing Naruto she was positive that it would be a memorable experience. Besides, maybe if she dropped enough hints even Naruto would recognize Ichiraku wasn't a proper venue for a first date dinner. Looking back at her house and seeing her mom, she decided that she better tell her parents the news that in a week's time they'd be entertaining her teammate and if their date went well, possible boyfriend.

* * *

"You traitorous bastard," the Fourth Kazekage said as Orochimaru's blade pierced his flesh.

"Relax," Orochimaru said amused as he pulled it free, "You'll still get to see the Leaf burn just not in the way you suspected."

"Well done lord Orochimaru," Kabuto said sincerely, "We are one step closer to the destruction of the Leaf."

"Indeed," the Snake Sannin said turning to a coughing Kimimaro, "Are you alright child? You've seemed to have lost a step or two since last you joined me in battle."

"I am fine, Lord Orochimaru," Kimimaro said between coughs, "Do not trouble yourself over me."

Orochimaru was about to shrug when the Kaguya collapsed. Kabuto quickly responded already scanning the leader of the Sound Five. Orochimaru looked on annoyed, now that the boy was unconscious as it would be a blow to his plan. Still with the death of the Kazekage it was too late to turn back, and also the invasion would provide the perfect opportunity to prove that training under him was exactly what Sasuke needed to move forward in his ambition.

Walking away from the sick Kaguya, he told Kabuto, "Do what you can for him, and then proceed with your mission."

"Yes Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto said a little surprised that the Sannin didn't steal the Kazekage's face. Asking about the seemingly change in plans the medic asked, "Where are you going, sir?"

"To find something else to wear," was the Snake Sannin's cryptic reply.

* * *

Gaara watched the moon as he sat atop the Chunin Exam stadium. He had been unable to get what Sakura had said about Naruto out of his mind, which had prompted his need to talk to the boy directly. But he had been nothing like what he expected. That Naruto had felt the same pain and anger as him but had chosen to ignore it in favor of fighting for a better path made Gaara wish for the same thing.

He realized that in a sense he had found it here in the Leaf Village thanks to Sakura and Naruto's friendship. Yet tomorrow if he did nothing they and their village stood to be destroyed. The problem he faced was that he also wished to form bonds of friendship with the people of his own village. The conundrum that he faced was how could he help both villages? He knew no good would come from tomorrow's attack and if the Leaf survived there was an excellent chance that they would attack Suna in reprisal.

Standing, he floated to the center of the arena on a platform of sand before lowering it to the ground. Once in the center of the arena where his people were asking him to unleash the very beast that caused them to fear him Gaara tried to find a better way. If not lots of people on both sides would die, and although confident in his own strength wasn't sure if he could use it for others. He found that strange as against all the assassins his father had sent after him he had never once feared losing. Yet, that was exactly what he was feeling now, except it wasn't for himself but the people who had befriended him, as well as the people he hoped one day would.

Gaara understood that his quest to be more like 'Him' may very well end tomorrow with his death. Either by Leaf Shinobi or the Sand who realized he intended to betray his father's will. But he also understood that even if he did die after only taking a single step along this new path that at least he would die a better person then he had been before.

With that thought in mind he began pouring his sand into the center of the Chunin Exam stadium planting the seeds for his victory. A victory in which the Sand did not cross blades with the Leaf.


	6. Chapter 6 A Date with Destruction

An: Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I'll try to not let it happen again but work is pretty busy so I can't make any promises. Regardless I hope you enjoy and would like to thank all the people that review as always. Your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.**

**Chapter 6: A Date with Destruction**

"No…no…no," Sakura kept repeating as she threw various clothes out of her closet. She picked out another red dress and then held it against her before chucking over her shoulder saying, "No," a little frustration bleeding into her voice. "Grrh, why is it I have nothing to wear," she said ignoring the pile of clothes behind her.

Moving away from the closet to think about things logically instead of letting the butterflies she felt get to her she said, "Alright calm down Sakura. Remember it's not an actual date, date, but just a couple of teammates going out together." But then she remembered that she had told Naruto he could think of it as a date and grabbing her hair in frustration said, "You and your big mouth, why couldn't you just have said you'd love to go?"

But Sakura calmed as she thought about how Naruto had acted the few days after he asked her to go to the Exams with him. He had been calm and relatively relaxed about the whole thing. With the greatest sign that he felt a little nervous being the day before when he had confirmed what time he'd pick her up. But he had made no mention of it being a date. Now thinking things through, she believed that even if Naruto did think it was a date he knew watching people fight wouldn't really be considered a romantic date. Therefore he'd probably opt for something more casual. Settling on casual Sakura grabbed a blue skirt and yellow shirt. She picked up a red vest but decided against it as she wanted to leave red out of her clothes to differentiate from what she normally wore. Tying the orange ribbon Naruto had bought her into her hair. Sakura then moved to her window to see if she could see him coming.

As she waited, she remembered entering her house the night Naruto had asked her out. Her mom had been unsure how to confront her daughter about the hug that she had seen Sakura give her teammate. Sakura had ignored the worried look instead simply moving to the dinner table where her dad was already sitting. They ate in silence since her mom tended to be the conversation starter of the family.

_Finally her mom did say, "You seem to be spending an awful lot of time with your teammate."_

"_Well yeah mom, we were training," Sakura replied watching her carefully. Sakura could see her mom wanted to broach the subject of the hug she had just witnessed but she cut her off saying, "Mom, Dad next week can we have Naruto over for dinner?"_

"_I…I don't know honey…" her mom had started to say._

"_It's fine," her dad said surprising both women present._

"_But dear," Sakura's mom began, "You've heard some of the things people say about him."_

_Sakura narrowed her eyes at her mom unaware that her dad had been watching her. He chuckled slightly causing Sakura to shift her attention to him as he said, "Yeah, but I can't really say that I believe them until I meet the boy myself. More to the point our daughter's life is partially in his hands. I think I'd like to form my own opinion of the boy."_

"_You're right dear," her mom replied still a little nervous, "You can tell him to come over next week. Just give me some advanced warning."_

_Sakura smiled brightly something both parents noticed as she said, "Thank you, I will."_

Sakura could see Naruto approaching and was glad that she had guessed right about his choice in clothes which was a white t-shirt with a flame on the front and black shorts. She quickly exited her house to meet him half-way feeling a little anxious and nervous.

She felt it melt away though as Naruto said, "Y-you look great Sakura," since the small hitch in his voice told her that he was nervous as well.

"Thank you," she replied feeling her cheeks warming. Grabbing his arm she said, "So are you excited?"

"Oh yeah, I got a program and everything," he said as he began to lead her away.

However, Sakura noticed that they weren't heading to the stadium so she said, "Naruto, the stadium is that way."

"I know," Naruto replied, "But I ran into this really weird lady in a trenchcoat with a big pile of dumplings. Since you told me you like them I asked where she got them from. I thought we could go there before we head to the stadium. We have time."

"That sounds great," Sakura said with a smile, before placing her head on his shoulder as they walked confident that nothing could ruin their date.

* * *

Sasuke was training in his family's compound. Setting several of the training dummies on fire with a jutsu when he suddenly spun towards a corner of the room. Pulling a kunai he held it in front of his saying, "Come out where I can see you."

"Impressive and I only just arrived," the sure sounding Kabuto said stepping out of the shadows, "I can see why he's taken an interest in you."

"He…"

"Why Lord Orochimaru of course," Kabuto said.

Sasuke tightened his stance since this man may be here to kill him but Kabuto said, "Now, now there's no need for that. I'm simply the contact that he spoke of."

Sasuke lowered the kunai but not his guard as he said, "If you aren't here to kill me, who is?"

"Wait for the sign and then head to the place where you became a genin," Kabuto said stepping back into the shadows.

"What sign?"

"You'll know it when you see it," Kabuto said sounding amused, "Even the sign is a sort of test so I can't give too much away. I wonder what you'll choose."

Left alone with more questions than answers Sasuke headed to his room in order to prepare for whatever sign it was that he was suppose to see.

* * *

Naruto sat next to Sakura at the stadium still having a hard time grasping the fact that he was on a date with his long time crush. Despite how he was acting he did think of it as a date but didn't want to make Sakura uncomfortable. Plus he viewed this as more of a getting his foot in the door date, instead of a romantic one.

Sakura smiled at him and he felt a surge of panic wondering what he should do. He was positive if today went well then Sakura would accept a more romantic oriented date from him later so wanted to make the day as pleasant as possible. With that in mind he asked, "Do you want something from one of the vendors?"

Shaking her head with her smile still in place Sakura said, "No thanks, not right now. I'm still filled up from those dumplings. They were delicious. I can't believe I never ate there before."

Naruto nodded pleased to hear that. He opened the program he had been bought earlier before entering the stadium and blushed as Sakura leaned in next to him to look it over as well. The first couple pages were about some of the history of the chunin exam. In truth he found it kind of boring but didn't want to turn the page in case Sakura was reading it. "Who is in the first match?" Sakura asked much to his pleasure.

"Well…it seems to be between a girl named Tenten and a sound kunoichi named Kin Tsuchi," Naruto answered.

"I hope that Kin ends up losing badly," Sakura said harshly surprising Naruto. She blushed in embarrassment but explained why she felt that way saying, "Ino ended up getting humiliated by her."

Naruto nodded, but noticing that Sakura had been speaking of Ino without the insulting pig added to her name asked, "What happened to Ino-pig?"

"Oh that," Sakura said blushing slightly, "We aren't competing for the same boy anymore so we aren't rivals."

Naruto couldn't keep a smile from splitting his face. Although there was a chance he was wrong he got the feeling Sakura was speaking of her own crush on Sasuke and not Ino's. As she made it sound almost like a hint. Filing that information away for later use, Naruto flipped the page to the next contestant which showed that the winner of that match would face the winner of the Karin and Shikamaru one that happened after.

At that a smile appeared on Sakura's face as she imagined either a bald Karin if she faced Kin or a pin cushioned one if she fought Tenten since she figured Shikamaru may very well quit. Karin's page in the program didn't list much about her techniques so she was a heavy underdog, but Sakura figured they hadn't taken in Shikamaru's laziness.

With hopes that what she viewed as her chief rival for Naruto would quickly lose and be on her way home Sakura asked, "Who's in the next match."

Naruto flipped the page to see that it was a match-up between teammates. Sakura also had high hopes for this match as well since she had heard the back story to it from Ino. But seeing Rock Lee, she did admit that some of the hope that Hinata would see the green clad genin as a suitable substitute for Naruto had faded. Although for all she knew he could have a personality to never give up that Hinata could latch onto.

Before she could ask Naruto to turn the page, she heard the crowd begin to rise in volume. Looking around for the reason she saw the Kazekage entering the viewing box with the Hokage. Figuring that meant the fights would be starting soon she snuggled a little closer to Naruto and asked him to turn the page.

* * *

"Ah welcome Lord Kazekage," Sarutobi said smiling at his fellow Kage. Although he personally found the man repulsive and a far cry from the Third Kazekage, the man he had signed the Alliance with, knew that in politics you sometimes had to deal with people you didn't like.

He noted that the Kazekage didn't have any bodyguards with him something his fellow Kage must have noticed as he said, "What need for bodyguards do I have in the home of my allies?"

Sarutobi smiled graciously but something about the way the man spoke had him on edge. Nodding politely regardless he turned his attention to the young genin entering the arena. Noticing that two of the contestants were missing he motioned for Raidou his own bodyguard. When the man leaned in Sarutobi asked in a whisper, "Did we receive any word that Sound has withdrawn its genin?"

"Not that I am aware of," Raidou answered just as confused, "I can send someone to check though."

"Please do," Sarutobi said. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise, a danger sense he had picked up over the years that told him something was amiss.

"I have to say I find that to be rather strange," the Kazekage said drawing Sarutobi's attention.

"What would that be?"

"Well for such a small village as Sound to snub the final round like this seems rather foolish to me," the Kazekage said bringing his gaze to focus on the Hokage, "even if they didn't stand a chance against our villages' genin."

"Perhaps they felt that having two genin reach the final round upon their first entry into the exam was enough. While it may hurt their standing with future clients a little not as much as two embarrassing defeats would," Sarutobi said good naturedly. But even he knew what he said rang false as both Kin and Dosu had exhibited skills that had put them on equal footing with their opponents in at least the first matches. Along that thought he added, "Then again it is a small village so perhaps the two genin were needed for a mission."

"Perhaps," the Kazekage agreed amicably, "I suppose it doesn't matter though. Because once Gaara gets going, I doubt anything will stand in his way."

* * *

Gaara stood between his teammates with his arms crossed. He could sense Temari staring at him and observing him something she had been doing since coming across him and Sakura. Turning his head in her direction he felt an urge to sigh as much as he expected she had directed her gaze forward fearing to make eye contact with him.

Returning his gaze forward it wasn't long before she was staring at him again. Squashing down the annoyance he felt he was surprised when he didn't hear his Bijuu screaming for her blood. When he had first noticed that he hadn't heard the creatures insisted whispering in awhile he had once more sought out Sakura. She had come up with the theory that maybe since he seemed more willing to trust people again that his seal had strengthened itself by his desire to make friends.

Regardless of the reason he found that he enjoyed the quiet. Looking at the other genin present he frowned at the missing Sound-nin as they were supposed to back up his siblings in protecting him from Leaf shinobi while he unleashed Shukaku. While he had no intention of following that course of action now the sudden change of plans gave him some pause. Not in his desire to help the Leaf but what else had Orochimaru changed without telling his supposed allies the Sand.

He could tell that besides his recent change in behavior that this sudden change of plans bothered Temari. He spared a look at his sister out of the corner of his eye as he remembered when they had been told about the invasion of Konoha. She had been against the invasion but had come around when Baki explained it was necessary for Suna's very survival. Yet he could tell it still bothered her from time to time. He had almost told her what he had planned but feared that her loyalty to Suna would force her to reveal his plan. In any case, as far as he knew the invasion would still begin as soon as his match began. He would be ready.

* * *

After listening to the Hokage announce the beginning of the third round Karin felt her panic begin to rise. Especially since instead of fighting in the second match the proctor had decided to pair her against Tenten. Adding to her concern was just how deadly the girl was with her throwing weapons. Karin was thinking about dropping out right now since her real goal was defection. The only reason she had even returned for the exam was because it made defecting simple since Konoha was hopefully going to be her new village. The only reason she hadn't already announced her withdrawal was because she feared it would damage her chances of being accepted into the village.

Taking a few steadying breaths she thought, "_Alright, think calmly. What do we have to work with_?"

The Hokage ended his speech and Genma had the other genin enter a viewing box. Standing across from her opponent Karin felt fear beginning to rob her of her ability to think clearly but then she heard a loud shout of, "You can do it Karin."

Focusing her chakra sensing abilities on the shouter she could feel Naruto's warm chakra wash over her. It easily eclipsed all the other people in the arena. She almost lost her train of thought, wanting to bask in the feel of his chakra, but with Naruto watching her was determined to put on a good show.

* * *

"Hey Naruto you shouldn't be cheering for a girl from another village," Sakura said feeling a tad jealous.

"Aw come on Sakura," Naruto said, "She's our friend."

"She's not mine," Sakura muttered under her breath.

"What was that Sakura," Naruto asked noticing Sakura's drop in mood and wondering if he had done something wrong.

"Nothing Naruto," Sakura replied trying to recover her good cheer and not let the rivalry she felt with the girl get her down. After all, she was the one with Naruto at the moment. Getting a mischievous idea Sakura grabbed his arm holding it close to her chest and asked sweetly, "Naruto, you'd cheer for me though if I was down there, right?"

Trying hard not to blush he said, "Absolutely Sakura."

Leaning in she placed a kiss on his cheek as she said, "Good answer."

Naruto did blush deeply when she kissed his cheek unable to stop it. But that was okay as Sakura felt her own cheeks turning rosy as well. Focusing once more on the arena floor, Sakura felt some of the jealousy she felt leave her as she thought, "_I should just be glad I recognized what a great person you are Naruto. Otherwise a girl like her might have stolen you from right under my nose_."

* * *

Karin waited for the proctor to drop his hand and as soon as he did she began running as far from Tenten as possible trying to make it for the edge of the field. "Hey," her opponent shouted before flinging what seemed like hundreds of shuriken after.

Almost all of them hit her in the back but she disappeared in a cloud of smoke revealing a log. Breathing hard as she panted behind a tree she thought for a moment about the words of wisdom her sensei had given her, "Give up, you simply made it to the third round by luck." That had been the extent of the training he had given her to boot during the month between the second and third exams.

There were times when she felt that if not for her Mind's eye of the Kagura ability she wouldn't have even passed the Grass Shinobi Program. She felt the urge to give up again but heard Naruto begin cheering for her. Sadly so too did her opponent who decided enough was enough. Karin heard the impact of the kunai and several hit the tree she was hiding behind. But it was the sound of the tags attached to them sizzling that drew her attention. Jumping from her hiding spot she caught sight of Tenten who quickly targeted her.

The girl let fly several more kunai causing Karin to duck behind a log. Tenten's kunai impacted against it but before she could throw more the ones with tags went off. As Karin covered her head she could somehow still hear Naruto cheering her on and feeling that was driving Tenten to attack so violently shouted, "Stop cheering for me." Unfortunately Naruto couldn't hear her over the sound of his own voice, or the explosions.

She noticed that the barrage stopped as the area was covered in dust. Focusing her ability she could see that Tenten was still there holding kunai in preparation of her popping out or the dust settling. Realizing that under such conditions she actually had the advantage Karin reached into her pouch to pull out several smoke bombs. Using her ability she threw them and achieved a good scattering around Tenten and when they went off charged.

Closing her eyes she could see Tenten's chakra roughly a hundred or so feet in front of her. She was feeling about blindly in front of her searching for the end of the cloud when Karin caught her in the stomach with a kick. Tenten folded around the attack allowing Karin to hit her again with a punch to the side of the head. Tenten used the momentum of the blow to carry her away from her opponent.

Rolling into a crouch she unsealed a bo staff and held it defensively in front of her. Karin's technique only allowed her to see people or things made up of Chakra so she couldn't see the staff, but could roughly judge where it was by how Tenten held her hands. As the smoke faded from around them, she saw Tenten make a break for the edge of the smoke cloud. She just managed to clear it when several more pellets landed in front of her.

Karin heard her opponent curse but didn't let up as she chased after Tenten into the new dark cloud. She smiled when Tenten stopped as she reared back to hit her in the face again, but Tenten spun in a wide arc. Karin stopped, afraid of the bo she couldn't see, but then heard the sound of a chain and felt the staff connect with the side of her head. The world went black for Karin who was knocked unconscious by the staff which had separated into three separate sections held together by a chain.

* * *

The smoke cleared to reveal a bloodied and bruised but ultimately victorious Tenten. Sarutobi sat back in his chair at the end of the match in order to say, "It's been quite a while since I've seen a Grass-nin fight so hard in these exams."

Chuckling, the Kazekage said, "It's been quite a while since ones even made it to the third round."

Sarutobi inclined his head in recognition of the man's point. "True enough," he admitted, "Still although she did reach this round through luck. She did prove she deserved to be here. I don't think she'll have a problem earning a promotion in light of how well she did."

"I suppose, but I don't see how it matters," the Kazekage said causing Sarutobi to frown.

He didn't reply, feeling it was pointless considering their overwhelming differences when it came to how they perceived their shinobi. The Kazekage saw them simply as assets, a philosophy that led him to sacrifice his wife in order to bind the Shukaku to his son. A son he would spend years trying to kill as a failed experiment.

Any man that could do that to his own family truly lacked any understanding of what a Kage was as far as Sarutobi was concerned. Especially since he saw the Kage position as that of a father whose job it was to watch over and protect the family that was his village. As Lee and Neji entered the arena Sarutobi put his thoughts on hold to focus on the next match.

* * *

While the Kages discussed the first match and the first two combatants either left or were removed from the field. Sakura and Naruto made their way to a vendor to get some drinks before the start of the next round. As they walked Sakura caught sight of a woman staring coldly at Naruto. When her gaze moved to Sakura the woman quickly looked away surprised to see the pinkette glaring at her. She smiled to herself as she refocused on Naruto but frowned when he said, "Man, I was really hoping Karin would have won."

Sakura on the other hand was already planning to offer the grass-nin help in packing her bags but good naturedly said. "Don't worry Naruto. Winning might not be the most important thing in these exams."

"What do you mean?"

"Well if being the winner was all that mattered then we'd only get a single chunin every year," Sakura explained. "While I'm sure there are field promotions and the like. The idea that all the allied nations would send their genin to compete for a single spot seems rather silly."

"Heh-heh," Naruto chuckled lamely adding, "Of course it does."

Grabbing his arm with both of hers she said, "You thought there was only one promotion handed out didn't you."

"Busted," Naruto admitted looking at the girl hugging his arm with a bright smile. "But why do the Shinobi villages send people for only the few spots in the third round then?"

"I guess so they can see how they stack up against shinobi from other villages," Sakura said after thinking for a moment. "There's only so much you can learn about your own training methods without testing them against others. If Konoha's training system had a weakness, it would probably be found by an enemy looking for it. These exams are probably just a more civilized way of conducting such drills then actually going to war."

Naruto nodded trusting in Sakura's explanation of the exams something that made her feel warm inside. However a surprised, "N-naruto…" which quickly trailed off caused it to cool somewhat. It wasn't that she didn't like the girl that had called his name. Only that Sakura would have preferred her to not see that she now had competition for the blonde boy.

Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Hinata standing behind them with Kiba. He was momentarily surprised when instead of letting go Sakura's grip on his arm actually tightened. She then spun them around saying, "Hello Hinata, Kiba. Are you on a date?"

Kiba blushed at the idea but he frowned when Hinata said, "N-no Sakura. F-father insisted I have an escort in order to come and watch the exams. Kiba was kind enough to volunteer."

Although it appeared Hinata was looking at her as she spoke. Sakura could tell the Hyuuga was actually staring at where her arms were linked around Naruto's. Kiba asked the question that she figured was on Hinata's mind as he said, "So how about you two, are you here on a date?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head with his free arm blushing a little and was about to deny it. But Sakura beat him to the punch saying, "Yes…well not a romantic one obviously, but maybe next time. Right Naruto?"

Naruto could only nod his head not believing that Sakura had pretty much declared that there would be a next time and that she was open to his dating her romantically. He was probably a few seconds away from doing something like picking her up and spinning her when a loud speaker asked the people to retake their seats for the beginning of the next match.

Sakura began pulling him away saying, "I guess we'll have to get that drink later Naruto." As she pulled him away she could feel Hinata's eyes following them and thought, "_Sorry Hinata. But you had your chances. I'm not going to miss mine_."

* * *

Lee stood across from Neji holding one hand in front of him with the other folded behind his back. Even after a month the green genin still had a hard time imagining the unemotional boy in front of him as the person that had almost killed his cousin. Yet he had done almost exactly that when Hinata had refused to give up trying to honor someone that appeared very dear to her. Seeing the battered girl trying to keep getting up had reminded Lee of his own struggle to become a shinobi. Therefore when Neji had lost his temper Lee had been unable to stop himself from coming to her aid.

In the month since they had last seen each other Neji hadn't lost any of his skill in reading what was on his mind as he said, "Are you thinking of your own parallels with my failure of a cousin?"

Bristling at the comment Lee replied, "Indeed, however your cousin is no failure. She would only be that if she allowed your words to rob her of her determination to improve. I know not why you bear her such animosity. But, perhaps if a failure like me is capable of defeating a prodigy such as yourself you will come to learn that people are capable of overcoming any hardships."

"You simply refuse to understand Lee," Neji countered. "Regardless of how hard you try, you will forever be a skilled but limited shinobi. That is the lot you were fated to be born with and it is why you will be unable to back up your words today."

"Neji the only way something becomes impossible is if you give up," Lee said and prepared for the proctor to begin the fight. The proctor dropped his hand and Lee immediately took off running at his opponent. Neji simply stood waiting with a smirk on his face. When Lee attacked with a swirling kick he simply stepped back only enough for it to miss. Lee followed up with several punches but they were all avoided as cleanly.

Finally an opening appeared which Neji exploited when Lee went for a spinning high kick. Neji easily ducked under it and raising up hit his teammate in the chin with the palm of his hand as he completed his spin. Lee flew back several feet landing on his back. Staring down on his opponent Neji said, "Come now Lee. You honestly don't think you can best me in taijutsu without even taking off your weights."

As he stood Lee worked a knot out of his shoulder by rolling it as he responded by saying, "I am not the only one holding back though am I Neji. That blow was not a move set of your Jyuuken. Perhaps it is that you want to be wrong about your view on life."

"Don't be absurd," Neji scoffed, "I merely had no need to use my best moves against you when you aren't even taking this match seriously."

"Oh but I am Neji," Lee said reaching into his orange leg warmers and removing the weights there. He noticed that Neji's eyes grew wider upon noticing the amount of weight he used had increased. Dropping them to the sides of him they left indentations in the ground. Once again assuming his stance Lee said, "However the fact that you did not crush me during our opening exchange has me curious. Why bother to hold back if the winner of this match was decreed by fate? The answer is simple. You recognize that fate plays no part in battle. You wish to keep your strongest moves in reserve as to limit the amount of time any future opponents have to analyze and counter them. Through your own choices in the coming battle you provide the perfect counter argument to your philosophy on fate. I plan to drive the point home by defeating you."

Neji activated his Byakugan quietly seething as he prepared to prove his teammate was a fool. He wasn't surprised when Lee disappeared from in front of him, or to discover him faster than he had been when they had last spared. But he smirked when he noted that it didn't matter and suddenly blocked a kick from behind. He lashed out with a Jyuuken strike but wasn't too surprised when it missed as Lee somersaulted away.

Landing and assuming his stance Lee asked, "How…?"

"Did I block your attack despite you being faster?" Neji finished for the surprised boy. "I told you already. You simply refuse to believe it."

"That being…"

"Fate is what separates us," Neji said calmly, "It doesn't matter how fast you get my vision affords me all the time I need to ready a defense against you. Can't you see? I was born as the very proof that you will never be anything other than a mediocre shinobi."

* * *

Up in the stands Sakura wasn't surprised the Hyuuga's words were having an effect on Naruto. She noticed him tensing almost like he wanted to charge down and take on Neji as well. Hoping to calm him, she took his hand and when he looked at her gave a bright smile to him. He returned it but it wasn't as cheerful as his usual so said, "Don't let what he says get to you."

"I know," Naruto said, "But I just don't like the way he's talking down to his own teammate."

Sakura nodded and realized that Neji had also probably talked down to Hinata during their fight at the preliminaries that Ino had told her about. Thinking about it she was sure that Naruto would have charged in if he saw Hinata being bullied just like Lee had. Smiling, she also imagined that maybe with the right push she could possibly get Hinata to view Lee in a similar way that she saw Naruto. Looking at the green genin she conceded it would probably take one hell of a push, but while their outsides may appear different both Lee and Naruto had similar spirits.

Lee getting sent flying by a dome of chakra that surrounded Neji as he spun pulled Sakura's attention back to the fight as the green genin slowly got back to his feet.

* * *

As Lee got back to his feet Neji said, "You should stay down. With my mastery of Rotation your small and fleeting chance at victory has now become impossible."

Lee continued to his feet replying, "Earlier you said your birth was the proof that I was fated to remain a mediocre ninja. Well the same holds true against you as well Neji. Perhaps my birth is proof that your ideas of fate are false and that the only fate we are destined for is the one we carve out for ourselves." Gambling everything on his beliefs Lee began to open three of his chakra gates. His skin turning red Lee shouted, "Prepare yourself Neji."

Despite his earlier boast Neji was indeed surprised to when Lee disappeared from in front of him only appear crouched in front of him before he received a vicious upwards kick. As he floated in the air he was again shocked when Lee appeared behind him wrapping him in the bindings that covered his hands. As they fell back to the earth they began to spin giving Neji an idea.

Releasing Chakra from his Tenketsu points he allowed Lee own rotation to allow him to form the jutsu. As the chakra surrounded them, it shredded the bindings and pushed Lee away. Both combatants landed on their feet. Again Lee attacked causing Neji to blindly use Rotation counting on the fact that his teammate almost always charged straight in. He guessed correctly but Lee instead of smashing into it pushed against the edge of the jutsu attempting to stop Neji's spin.

His hands bleeding from the friction Lee redoubled his efforts positive that once he could stop Neji and get in close he could end the fight. His teammate also believed this causing him to pour more chakra into the jutsu. In a literal sense the pair poured everything they had into the clash and eventually something gave in the form of a rather large explosion as Neji lost control of his chakra. Both combatants were sent flying as a result.

Despite being at the epicenter of the explosion Neji was still conscious but couldn't get himself to stand his body feeling like it was made out of lead. As the dust settled he could see his teammate also lying on his back and could tell he was unconscious. He smiled knowing that all he had to do to win was get to his feet. Yet found he did not possess the will to force his body to move. Then to his amazement Lee began to stir slowly getting back to his feet. What truly amazed Neji though, was the boy was still unconscious.

Once back on his feet Lee assumed his fighting stance with his eyes closed and facing away from his opponent. "Impossible," Neji said to himself.

However the proctor Genma heard him and said, "Nothing is impossible for those who refuse to accept their lots in life." Addressing the audience Genma said, "Winner Rock Lee. However due to medical reasons he will not be allowed to compete further in the tournament."

As the medical team appeared to cart them away amidst the cheers of the crowd Lee awoke saying, "Where am I?" Remembering and realizing he was on a stretcher he said asked, "Did I lose?"

Before the med-nin could respond Neji answered, "No Lee you didn't."

Lee looked over to see a bruised Neji also on a stretcher and said, "May I ask how I won if I cannot even move at the moment?"

Neji stared up at the sky and said, "You believed in your view more firmly then I did." Despite his loss Neji found he was not bitter about it. After all, if Lee could reach his goal of defeating him then truly the only thing that had ever been standing in Neji's way had been himself. Grateful to his teammate he said, "Lee, thank you for opening my eyes." Not receiving a response he looked over to see his teammate sleeping. Smirking he decided to allow his own battered and tired body claim the rest it so desperately wanted.

* * *

Temari tried to calm herself as they carted the two Konoha-nin from the center of the arena. It wasn't fear of her opponent that gripped her since she imagined she'd have to hold back in order to make their match last as long as possible. Her orders were simple. Stretch her match out as long as possible and then when the signal was given protect Gaara as he summoned Shukaku.

That however was the cause of her fear. That soon she'd be in the middle of an invasion and at ground center when Suna unleashed its ultimate weapon. Sparing another glance at Gaara she truly couldn't get a good read on him. Normally it was easy to do as either he was calm or in a sort of deranged frenzy. However lately she hadn't been able to sense the bloodlust that he admitted, even when calm, that would alert her to his impending derangement.

He was still somewhat standoffish but otherwise he seemed truly at peace. He hadn't even threatened to kill her lately. Something she sadly admitted had her a little on edge. Wandering what sort of sister actually was more comfortable being threatened made her think of the Konoha-nin that she had found her brother with. She wasn't sure why she hadn't reported her finding out that Gaara had apparently made a friend with a soon to be enemy to Baki. Maybe it was because if she did their sensei would have no doubt forbidden Gaara from seeing her again. She figured that would have been rather cruel especially since her brother had never made a friend before.

So she had kept quiet and decided to keep an eye on her brother herself. But outside of one other meeting with the girl where they had discussed something in a ramen stand Gaara hadn't made any more contact with herl. Still Temari had kept watch on him and had even followed him to the stadium the night before. But again nothing of any real interest had happened although she did wonder what Gaara had planned for all the sand he had poured into the ground. She figured maybe he was looking to create some small advantage for himself during the invasion, but what that could be she couldn't say.

Focusing on the boy she would be fighting soon he appeared conflicted about something as the proctor called for them to come down. He appeared to settle his confliction suddenly saying, "To hell with this." Addressing the proctor he said, "I give up."

The crowd began to boo him but it was Temari's outburst of, "What," that attracted his attention. However after he put his hands in his pockets and began to walk away without explaining himself she said, "You can't just give up."

"Actually I can it's in the rules," Shikamaru replied stifling a yawn, "Fighting you would be far more troublesome then it's worth. Besides I don't even want to be a chunin that badly. I only showed up today to keep my mom's complaining to a minimum.

The slacker suddenly began to sway side to side and Temari became aware that the booing was quieting down. Directing her attention to the stands she could see that apparently whoever was in charge of putting the audience to sleep was keeping to the timetable even if her match had been far shorter than planned. That bothered her as the man couldn't even be sure that all of Suna's forces were in position. Refocusing on Shikamaru she saw him laying on his side with his back towards her and she was tempted to slice his throat. However, before she could decide Kankurou saying, "Where are you going Gaara?" attracted her attention.

She turned just in time to see Gaara leap from the balcony of the viewing box to the arena floor below. Kankurou turned towards her saying, "What the hell is he playing at? The viewing box is the most defensible position to protect him from."

"I don't know," Temari said quickly leaping after her youngest brother. Landing on the arena floor she chased after her brother who slowly walked towards the center of the stadium. Getting within a few feet she said, "Gaara we have to get back to the viewing box we're too exposed down here."

"I'm sorry Temari," her brother said surprising her. She knew his words held more than just an apology for leaving the viewing box and they also had a hint of finality to them. As if he didn't expect to survive the day.

"Hey it's okay…" she attempted to say but took a step back in horror as a gigantic wall of sand appeared around her brother. The wall easily toward above the stadium and wrapped around Gaara completely.

She could just make out Gaara saying, "I cannot allow the Leaf to be destroyed," before the wall began spreading out in all directions. As the first person swept up in it Temari always feared meeting her end as a result of Gaara's sand. However a stray thought that perhaps she deserved it entered her mind, after all if a Leaf kunoichi could have befriended her brother than surely she could have been the big sister he needed.

* * *

Sakura had easily shaken off the genjutsu placed on her and quickly did the same for Naruto. "What…what happened," he said still a little groggy.

"Someone placed a genjutsu on the audience," Sakura said and upon noticing Sand and Sound shinobi disguised among the people added, "I think we're at war." Cursing that she hadn't brought any shinobi weapons she noticed Gaara making his way to the center of the arena. She felt betrayed by the boy as the Invasion force began fighting the few awake Jounin and Chunin that had also thrown off the effects of the genjutsu.

Gaara was then surrounded by a pillar of sand and she feared that he was simply going to crush the stadium under it. But then the sand began to spread out quickly passing over her and the rest of the stadium. When it had passed all the Sand shinobi were gone, except for Gaara and the Kazekage, and she could only assume that the same thing was happening over the rest of the village as the Sand Wave passed throughout Konoha. The Sound shinobi were obviously just as surprised as the Leaf that half of the attacking force was gone.

From the sudden quiet a masked Sound Kunoichi called Gaara a traitor and threw a kunai at him. His sand easily blocked it. Raising his hand towards her, sand shot from his gourde wrapping around her neck and after picking her up into the air tightened until it crushed her throat. Several more Sound shinobi launched various thrown weapons at him as the woman's body fell to the floor but Gaara ignored them as his automatic defense blocked them while he directed his gaze towards the Kazekage who faced off against the Hokage. He raised himself into the air on a platform of sand heading towards the Hokageviewing box.

Naruto asked her, "Where's he going?"

Sakura shrugged saying, "I don't know, maybe to confront his dad."

"What should we do?"

"We need to follow protocol and help with the evacuation of civilians," Sakura said knowing all the village protocols by heart.

Naruto looked around at all the sleeping civilians and said, "How are we going to get all these people to the monument?"

"We don't," Sakura said grabbing his hand and leading him from their seats up the stairs to the exit. She stopped near a dead Sound-nin and took his tool pouch as she said, "We'll have to leave these people in the care of the shinobi defending the stadium."

She focused her attention at the top of the stairs in time to see a Sound-nin launch a kunai at her. Naruto suddenly appeared in front of her taking it in the forehead. She wanted to scream at his sudden death but he turned into smoke. Refocusing her gaze up towards the shinobi she saw him being tackled from the side. The Sound-nin tried to throw Naruto off but he hit him in the face with his unfinished Rasengan. It didn't kill the man but the way his head was suddenly thrown into the ground certainly did as it made a sickening crunch.

Naruto quickly took the man's equipment and said, "Alright Sakura let's go."

Sakura pulled it together reminding herself it was only a clone. Joining him at the top of the stairs she followed after him as he took off for the exit in search of people that needed their help.

* * *

Sarutobi moved as soon as the genjutsu began, avoiding the wind blade that the Kazekage sent at him. Raidou wasn't so lucky getting hit in the chest but his flak jacket absorbed most of the damage. However he still hit the wall behind him hard enough to knock him unconscious.

As the Kazekage removed his robes to reveal he was wearing a Suna flak jacket Sarutobi asked, "Why, Lord Kazekage? Why would you throw away years of peace to attack us now?"

"I had my reasons," the man replied, "But they are no longer my own." Confused Sarutobi threw his own robes away to reveal his battle armor causing the Kazekage to say, "I see, perhaps you weren't as unaware of our impending attack as Orochimaru thought."

"What, Orochimaru is behind this?" Sarutobi said clearly surprised.

"That's right," the Kazekage said but before he could explain the Sand Wave passed over both him and Sarutobi.

When it passed over them the Kazekage was several feet further away apparently almost having been pulled away with the rest of his forces. Sarutobi turned his attention to the boy who had removed all the Suna forces from the arena. Turning his focus back to the Kazekage he said, "It appears your son doesn't share your desire for Konoha's destruction. End this now and things can go back to the way they were."

"Heh," the Kazekage chuckled mirthlessly, "He was always a disappointment." Staring at Sarutobi he said, "I'm afraid that choice has been taken out of my hands." He then charged Sarutobi however before he could close the distance was pushed back by a barrier of Sand that surrounded Sarutobi.

Gaara landed between the two Kage. Getting back to his feet the Kazekage said, "Finally decided to take your revenge for your mother. I suppose it was a mistake to trust you to be useful."

Gaara's response surprised his dad as he said, "I believe I have proven myself more useful to the village then you ever have been. I prevented your stupidity from leading to its destruction today."

"Have you," the Kazekage replied, "Tell me how boy. This attack was meant to destroy the very village that has been slowly bleeding our own dry."

Gaara remained impassive saying, "You blame the Leaf village for the Daimyo's sending them business that you view as ours. However instead of negotiating lower fees to bring his business back you immediately align with a criminal like Orochimaru."

"A mistake to be sure," the Kazekage said cryptically, "But before I kill you both tell me, did you kill all our fellow shinobi."

* * *

Miles away from Konoha the sand that had been a part of the giant wave that had swept through the village gathered into one big ball of sand. It then lowered to the ground. The sand fell away from the people trapped inside of it one of whom, Kankurou, immediately fell to his knees thanking every god he could think of that he was still alive.

Baki immediately came up to Temari who was standing next to her still kneeling brother and demanded, "What the hell happened? The invasion is doomed to failure now."

"Gaara…he said he couldn't let the Leaf be destroyed," Temari said sadly obviously surprising Baki nthat Gaara would pass up a chance to slaughter as much as he wanted.

One of the shinobi near her said, "Traitorous little monster."

Temari snapped at hearing that rounding on the man and angrily saying, "What the hell do you know? What reason did he have for protecting Suna? A village that never showed him anything but hatred and disdain. We're lucky he didn't simply crush us all with his sand instead of merely moving us away from the battlefield."

"Yeah and what reason did he have to protect the Leaf?" the man shouted back.

Turning towards the village in question she replied sadly, "Because someone there had the courage to befriend him. Something the rest of us lack."

* * *

Sasuke was surprised when the giant snake appeared outside the village and smashed its way through the wall. He was about to go investigate when he realized this was the sign he was supposed to keep his eyes open for. He also realized what the messenger had meant by this also being a test. He had to choose between his duty as a Leaf Genin which meant he had to help evacuate civilians or go to the training grounds to face the challenge Orochimaru had placed before him.

He was conflicted for a moment but in the end chose his duty as the avenger of the Uchiha. Taking off in the opposite direction of the village he made his way to the training field where Kakashi had tried to impress upon Team Seven the value of teamwork.

Running into the training field, he stopped in front of the pillar where Naruto had been tied too. Despite how infuriating he had found Naruto and Sakura's recent development of strength he did feel a pain of guilt at abandoning his team in favor of his own ambition. He almost turned back but a blast of wind forced him to dodge to the side. The wind attack smashed into the post snapping it in half. Directing his attention in the direction the attack came from he could see three Sound-nin.

The one that attacked him still held his hands up revealing that the attack came from the nozzles in his hands. Standing to the side of him was a girl with long black hair. The final member was hunched over as he walked and whose face was covered in bandages. He was the one that spoke saying, "Sasuke Uchiha, we're here for your life."

Straightening he replied, "It's yours if you can take it."

* * *

As the three headed summons made its way through the village Jiraiya dropped a giant toad on it stopping the creature cold. With most of its internal organs crushed he directed his gaze over the village easily spotting several areas where the fighting was fiercest. Despite the sudden removal of the Sand the Sound was still making a fight of it. He smirked knowing that the only reason for that was because the village was waiting for the evacuation of the villagers before mounting its true counter offensive.

Ibiki appeared on the toad's head behind him saying, "Lord Jiraiya, it's good to see you."

"Ah Ibiki I haven't seen you since you were a little squirt," he said jokingly. Growing serious he asked, "What is the status of the evacuation?"

"It proceeds well," Ibiki answered, "However squads in a few areas our pinned down with civilians they can't move due to the heavy fighting."

"Send what back-up you can to them," Jiraiya said leaping from the toads head.

"Where are you going sir?"

"To find the snake behind this fiasco and put an end to him once and for all," Jiraiya called back.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto arrived in an area where they could see a single chunin attempting to fend off a squad of twenty Sound-nin. Behind the man they could make out a group of huddling people that were obviously civilians. Two of the people immediately caught her attention as her parents. "Naruto…" she said wondering for a moment what to do.

"What's the plan Sakura?" he asked.

"Me…" she said surprised.

"Yeah I imagine you're a lot better at strategy then me," he replied confident in her ability.

Taking the confidence he put into her she applied it in proving his high opinion of her was right and ordered, "Create a wall of clones between the enemy and civilians. We'll use them to give the chunin time to get them out of there."

Naruto immediately complied with the order creating a hundred clones to get between the Sound and civilians. Sakura and he then dropped down behind the wall of orange blondes where Naruto quickly disappeared into the clones midst's. The Sound-nin recovered from their shock at being outnumbered quickly opting to charge into the mass of blondes.

As the Sound began dispelling them Sakura shouted to the Chunin who was simply gawking at them, "What are you waiting for? Get these people out of here."

Taking her eyes off the battle of Sound and clones almost proved costly as one of the Sound-nin made it through the group. Targeting her, he closed on her holding a kunai that he planned to bury in her chest. Her attention was drawn to the danger when one of the many blondes lunged in front of her and shouted, "Sakura." Grabbing the man's hand he deflected it downwards taking the hit in his side.

Sakura gasped when instead of turning into smoke blood began leaking from the wound. As Naruto fell backwards Sakura reared up tears leaking from her eyes hitting the man with everything she had and deposited his corpse almost half way across Konoha. Turning towards her teammate she cradled his head and saw that the chunin still hadn't moved so shouted, "Go."

He nodded getting his charges moving away from the fight. Before they left though, Sakura's watery eyes met her mother's. She was sure her mom could understand what her eyes said which she felt was, "See, this is the boy you would have judged so unfairly." Her mom nodded as she allowed her husband to lead her away at the urging of the chunin.

Naruto reached for the kunai pulling it out. Sakura said, "Naruto, don't…"

"Don't worry Sakura, remember I heal quickly."

Sure enough, she could see the wound glowing red with an internal light before it quickly closed. She rubbed her eyes clear of tears before saying, "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yeah, it doesn't even hurt anymore," Naruto answered getting back to his feet.

"Okay," she said accepting the hand up from him, "Then let's take these guys."

Naruto smashed a fist into the palm of his saying, "Alright, just tell me what to do." Sakura nodded as she planned out her and Naruto's counter attack.

Opening the pouch she had procured she told Naruto to do the same. Seeing that between them they had several exploding tags and a dozen kunai left she looked around her and saw a decrepit building. Placing the pouch back on her hip, she said, "Follow me."

Looking over her shoulder she could see that although the clones had taken a few shinobi down that a good portion still remained. "Naruto dispel the rest of you clones," Sakura ordered.

"Sure thing," he answered and as soon as he did so one of the shinobi pointed towards them. As she expected they gave chase probably wanting revenge for the men Naruto had killed.

Entering the building, she told Naruto to create some more clones, enough to fill the lobby they had entered. She then moved among them handing several clones exploding tags telling Naruto to do the same. She then asked one of the clones she had given an exploding tag to, to henge into her. She then whispered something into the clone's ear who nodded with a smile before grabbing the real Naruto's hand and pulled him to the second floor.

Below she could hear the shinobi bust in and heard the clone that had henged itself say, "Come and get us you losers."

"Come on," she said jumping from a second story window to the next building smashing through the glass. Naruto followed without hesitation which proved to be a good thing as the exploding tag the henged clone held went off causing all the other tags to do so as well. Naruto was still in the air when the shockwave hit and the building behind him began to collapse. Sakura moved in front of him helping to cushion his fall.

He landed on top of her and stared down into her green eyes before saying with a smile, "That was kind of reckless Sakura."

"Says the boy that normally charges into everything without thinking," Sakura replied wondering if Naruto had the same urge to kiss that she was experiencing.

Although Naruto was feeling it he picked himself up offering her a hand up feeling that making out in the middle of battle probably wasn't a good idea. Sakura accepted it with a small pout before moving to the window they had entered through. Looking down on the remains of the still smoldering building she said, "I think we should begin making our way to the monument now to help with the defense of it."

Naruto nodded, following behind her as she ran down the side of the building. As they made their way deeper into Konoha the pair were careful to avoid enemy patrols and were wondering where all the shinobi of the village were.

Meanwhile back at the command center of the village Ibiki watched on a monitor as a lone chunin escorted the last of the civilians into the monument. Smiling darkly he said, "Alright it's time for our counter attack."


	7. Chapter 7 Beauty and the Beast

**An:** I'm terribly sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I could tell you a bunch of excuse but will settle for one in that I was hoping for a little insight into the Kazekage's fighting style after he appeared in the manga as one Kabuto's resurrected army. In any case it became apparent if I waited much longer months would go by. So sorry and I'll save my other excuses for next time but hopefully the wait between won't be as long so they won't be needed. Also thanks to everyone that takes the time to review they truly making writing well worth the effort.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit**

**Chapter 7: Beauty and the Beast**

Sakura peeked out from a corner to see if the street was clear. Finding no sign of enemy shinobi she was about to dart across it to the next back-alley on their way to the Hokage monument when Naruto grabbed her wrist pulling her back. She fell back into his chest placing a hand on it and was surprised at just how toned it was. Pushing such thoughts aside she was about to ask him why he stopped her. But she stopped when he raised a finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet. He created a shadow clone that mirrored her action of peeking out onto the street. It then darted across only for it to take a kunai in the side of the head. She could hear the cursing of the Sound-nin that were laying in wait.

Naruto though didn't hesitate, pulling her along behind him due to the strong grip he had on her wrist. She could hear the Sound shinobi scrambling to follow after them. One of them had just reached the corner they had been hiding behind when Naruto darted down another back-alley easily navigating the labyrinth as if he'd ran it hundreds of times. Skidding to a halt, he fell to the ground and rolled to his side hitting a window that was at floor level. It opened inwards allowing Naruto to fall into the basement level of the building. Sakura immediately followed suit and was surprised that when the window shut behind her it did so quietly. She also was surprised to find that instead of hitting a hard floor her fall had been cushioned by an old mattress.

Before she could puzzle out why, Naruto pulled her back towards him as he pressed his back against the wall beneath the window they had used to enter. She heard the sound of footsteps as they continued down the alley. As they faded off into the distance she waited till she couldn't hear them to pull away from Naruto. The blonde quickly made his way towards the back of the room where a small arched opening appeared in the brick wall. At first she thought it was a fireplace but rejected that idea since she couldn't imagine one in the dingy basement that they now resided in.

Looking back out the window, she noticed that the edges had been taped off which was why it had shut silently. The mattress they had landed on didn't look out of place since lots of odds and ends appeared to have been stored there. But its position to cushion their fall was suspect.

Moving up to him as he pulled things out of the arch she asked, "How'd you know about that ambush?"

Naruto didn't stop moving stuff as he replied, "Usually when I got into trouble whenever I was chased this way the chunin after me would set up ambushes there. This is one of my escape routes when my pranks generated too much heat."

Sakura frowned asking, "You broke in here?"

"I guess," Naruto said, "But the window's lock was already broken. And the old man that lives upstairs never comes down here. Plus, I originally entered here from this way." He emphasized his point by pulling back a wooden plank to show a hole in the floor that seemed to descend downwards at an angle.

"Where's this go?"

"To some tunnels," Naruto answered backing down the hole carefully. Just before the darkness of the tunnel swallowed him up he said, "Be careful. It'll be a lot easier to climb down using chakra but sometimes the ground gives way."

Sakura nodded climbing down in a hunched and backward fashion similarly to how Naruto had. After passing the foundation of the building the ground turned from concrete to dirt and much as Naruto had warned it became a lot harder to move as the dirt kept shifting beneath her. Eventually her feet touched stone and she realized she must be at the tunnel. She looked over her shoulder to get an idea of how far the fall was when her hand slipped causing the dirt it had been resting on to begin a mini avalanche.

The unexpected movement caused her to lose her balance causing her chakra to falter. Falling out of the hole she expected a painful meeting with the ground and closed her eyes. However it never happened as she landed in Naruto's outstretched arms as he caught her. She opened her eyes immediately spotting where she fell from and saw that it wasn't nearly as bad as she had feared only being a few feet above her head.

Realizing she was being held in Naruto's arms she blushed saying, "Thanks, Naruto. I'm alright, you can put me down."

He nodded his face coloring slightly as well before complying with her request. Once both her feet were on the ground she asked, "Where are we?"

"I'm not really sure," Naruto admitted as he began walking down the tunnel after cracking a glow rod so that the chemicals mixed giving off a green light. "But if we follow this tunnel to the end, we'll end up coming out a few blocks from the Hokage Monument."

As they walked she noticed that on the sides of the tunnels were doors, many of them which had the type of tape usually used to cordon off crime scenes. Curious she asked, "What's behind the doors?"

"I don't know," Naruto answered, "I usually tried to spend as little time as possible down here."

"Why? I think it would be fun to explore down here a little bit."

"It might have been if I wasn't down here by myself," he said missing the frown that appeared on her face as a result of his words. "But I also get the feeling that whatever did happen down here wasn't very good." He shivered a little almost as if he could sense whatever misdeeds had happened in the dark tunnels. Sakura could feel it slightly as well now that it had been pointed out, but felt it was blunted somewhat by Naruto's presence. As if to further prove her theory correct he said, his tone conveying the smile on his face, "Plus, whenever I used this tunnel to lose the people chasing me. I was afraid if I took too long down here Iruka-sensei would manage to find me somehow. I'm still not sure how he was always the only one to catch me."

Sakura smiled picturing the many times when Iruka would return to the classroom with a trussed up Naruto. But the smile faded as she came to the conclusion that it may have been because he was one of the only people not to write Naruto off. The tunnel split into three directions causing her to ask, "Which way?"

Naruto motioned with the glow stick to the path on the right. Despite her coming to respect Naruto greatly a part of her was afraid he'd get them lost down there. However, as they entered the path she caught a cartoonish drawing of the Hokage Monument on the wall showing her that Naruto had at least mapped out where the paths went. That made her sad, since as she had said earlier it would have been neat to explore them in a childish adventure. But she knew Naruto had done so in planning out a prank campaign so as to not have his very existence denied.

She shook such thoughts off before they could depress her since despite her belief that the Hokage monument would be secure. There was a slim chance that by the time they emerged from the tunnel things may have gone from bad to worse.

* * *

Sasuke leapt back as another blast from the boy with strange tube nozzles embedded in his hands. The one bandaged like a burn victim said, "Another miss, are you even trying Zaku."

"I'm just playing with him. Dosu," Zaku said with a dismissive tone. "Don't want to kill this punk too quickly now, do I?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth at the trivializing way Zaku spoke of him.

The kunoichi let her opinion be known saying, "Quit messing around. Lord Orochimaru said not to underestimate him."

Zaku took his eyes off of Sasuke to retort which proved to be a mistake as Sasuke body-flickered in front of him. He caught Zaku in the chest with a kick that launched him backwards. Sasuke smiled at the look of surprise that appeared on the kunoichi's face, but jumped back when he noticed that Dosu had revealed some sort of gauntlet on his right arm.

Sasuke stared in confusion as Dosu simply flicked it with his finger. Concentrating wondering what was supposed to be happening. He thought he detected waves emanating from it, which suddenly took on a concentrated drill like shape as it approached him. Although having trouble following it, he sensed the attack as it attempted to burrow itself into his right ear. Rolling to his left, he sprung up into a crouched position.

He took some satisfaction in the surprised look that appeared beneath Dosu's wrapped countenance. Standing and feeling emboldened at the small fear he detected rolling off the three since in the handful of minutes since their appearance they had yet to land a significant hit on him. He could almost hear Dosu thinking, "How'd he avoid it? It must have been a fluke."

This time Dosu hit his arm harder which made the waves even easier to see for Sasuke, even if they seemed to flicker in and out of his vision. This time he waited until the last minute to avoid them and instead of leaping away launched himself towards Dosu and Kin.

Kin responded throwing two handfuls of Senbon at him. He easily dodged the projectiles noticing the bells at the end of them. He also picked up the hint of wires tied to them as they passed. Guessing that her jutsu would focus around sound as well he grabbed the wires while the senbon were still in the air. Yanking them, he caused the senbon to reverse course much to Kin's surprise. She managed to avoid them, but it provided Sasuke the time he needed to concentrate on Dosu.

Dosu had just canceled his jutsu when Sasuke closed with him. He was going to hit the Melody Arm again deciding to use a more powerful attack and one less reliant on accuracy then his Vibrating Sound Drill. Sasuke however prevented him from doing wrapping his hand around the wrist of Dosu's left hand and holding it in place. Dosu tried to swing his right in order to hit Sasuke with the weapon to get it to vibrate. But Sasuke caught that arm as well above the elbow. He then lashed out with a knee burying it into Dosu's stomach. As the Sound-nin bent forward Sasuke became aware of both his teammates targeting him from behind.

Kin threw her senbon which Zaku aided by firing a concentrated blast from his Wind Tunnels. The blast caused Kin's senbon to move even faster. Sasuke cursed, but calmed as strangely everything seemed to slowdown. Leaping out of the way the air propelled senbon ripped through Dosu's body effortlessly burying themselves in the forest behind him.

Sasuke realized that in that moment he had fully achieved Sharingan, or at least the first stages of it. He also realized it was also why he had been able to see Dosu's jutsu. He received confirmation when after he landed Kin took a step back saying, "What's with his eyes?"

Smugly Sasuke said, "Impressive no? This is the blood limit of the Uchiha."

"We were told you didn't have the ability to use Sharingan," Zaku stated his earlier confidence fading.

"True, but I simply hadn't unlocked it yet. As thanks for helping me do so I'll let you leave here with your lives." Sending a look at Dosu's corpse, he added, "That's more then I can say for some."

Zaku raised his hands pointing them at Sasuke as he shouted, "Fuck you! We're Lord Orochimaru's chosen, there's no way I'd back down to a bitch like you." He then let rip with both nozzles in a blast that tore up the ground as it traveled towards the smirking Uchiha.

When the blast hit the area it obscured both of the Sound-nins' vision of Sasuke. When the dust cleared nothing but blasted earth remained. Zaku was about to fire an insult but was caught by surprise by a fist that erupted from the earth. Caught in the chin by it he was lifted into the air, but Sasuke grabbed him by the ankle pulling him down into his waiting knee, which caught him along the stomach. Bent forward by the attack Sasuke wrapped his hands around Zaku's head and giving it a twist he snapped his neck.

As Zaku's corpse hit the ground Sasuke directed his attention to Kin who looked torn between fleeing and attacking. Before she could come to a decision though, she was caught in the giant fireball that Sasuke directed towards her. Badly burned, she attempted to crawl away from Sasuke who seemed content to let her do so. Spotting a man entering the training field she called out, "Lord Orochimaru help me."

However Orochimaru walked past her without sparing her a second look as he said, "Well done Sasuke."

"Aren't you going to help her?" Sasuke asked.

"Why," Orochimaru responded amused, "She's served her purpose which was to test you enough to unlock those magnificent eyes. The question is. What are you going to do?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the man realizing the game the Sannin was playing. If he left her alive and she received medical attention, even if Sasuke stayed in the Leaf his name would be tarnished, since it was probably obvious to the girl that they had previous dealings with one another. Left with one recourse, he reached into his pouch and with an absentminded flick of his wrist sent the kunai he had pulled directly into the girl's right eye socket.

Orochimaru looked behind his shoulder enjoying the sight of the betrayed expression frozen on Kin's corpse. Turning back to Sasuke, he smiled before saying, "A wise decision. It leaves you with more options in the end, doesn't it?" Chuckling sinisterly he continued, "So does this mean after helping you to unlock those eyes that you may reject whatever I plan to offer."

"I suppose that depends on what it is you are offering, and the price," Sasuke said keeping his guard up.

"What I offer is power," Orochimaru said stepping towards Sasuke who took a step back due to the Killing Intent the Snake Sannin began releasing. "Hahaha, is that how you plan to face Itachi, a scared rabbit ready to bolt in the face of a stronger predator."

Sasuke was about to fire a retort despite his shaking knees but was interrupted by a voice that he recognized, although it sounded far more serious than when he had last heard it, say, "Picking on fresh out of the Academy genin. My how the mighty have fallen, Orochimaru."

A dark smile appeared on Orochimaru's face as he turned to face his old teammate. "Jiraiya, and here I thought you lost my trail after I left the Akatsuki. Or, is it just my bad luck to find you back in your old stomping grounds?"

"Let's say we cut the small talk," Jiraiya said.

"Very well old friend," Orochimaru replied his smile never leaving his face. Directing his gaze to Sasuke he added, "Run along now little rabbit. I'll deal with you at a later date."

Sasuke bristled at Orochimaru words, but feeling the power rolling off the two men knew even with the Sharingan he wouldn't last more than a handful of seconds. Jiraiya took his eyes off of his old friend long enough to say, "You heard him, head to the Monument to help protect it. The counter-attack should already be under way."

Sasuke stood still a few moments longer trying to read the older man. He wondered briefly how much Jiraiya had heard. Although he could see some suspicion in the man's eyes, he believed that Jiraiya had only caught the tail end of their conversation otherwise the last place he would want him is near the civilians of the village. Confident of his reasoning, Sasuke nodded to the man before taking off.

Jiraiya frowned as the boy left the training field. Although the three dead Sound-nin helped ease the suspicion he felt, it didn't completely remove it. He only wished he had arrived before Orochimaru had begun releasing his KI and revealed his presence. Vowing to keep an eye on the boy, he faced Orochimaru and prepared to correct the mistake his teacher had made in letting the Snake Sannin escape.

* * *

Sarutobi battered the floating blade away with Enma but cursed as another split open the throat of one of his Anbu. Jumping back with the three remaining men, he spared a moment to search for Gaara to find him still among the living as well. Something he was beginning to doubt about the man they faced.

The floating blades which looked like starfish except each tip ended in a sharp edge continued to fly about the man in a dizzying pattern. Sarutobi had only heard of the man's ability to use his Wind natured chakra in such a way. What made him difficult to fight was that his control was good enough that the man could be fighting one of them while the blades kept the others busy.

The Kazekage smiled as he said, "What I would give to have faced you in your prime. Sadly you appear to be but a sad shadow of your former self."

Sarutobi felt his men stiffen at the insult but reassured them saying, "Don't lose your heads or you'll lose your lives." The Anbu surrounding him calmed so Sarutobi replied to the Kazekage, "Such meaningless taunts have no place on the battlefield. It only further underscores your own lack of ability as a Kage."

The Kazekage narrowed his eyes and Sarutobi fought down a smile since as he just proved taunts did have a place on the battlefield despite his words. The Kazekage was about to charge them when sand erupted from beneath the roof tiles all around him.

Gaara had taken his time in slowly moving his sand beneath the tiles of the castle roof that the battle had moved to. His father tried to escape it, but surrounded by it as he was his chances to do so were virtually zero. Knowing this the man directed his floating blades at his son but Gaara's automatic defense easily blocked the attacks and absorbed the blades into the sand. Leaving only his face visible Gaara raised the Sand Coffin into the air, before saying, "Surrender or I'll crush you."

"Go to hell."

"You first," Gaara replied closing his hand into a fist. The sand covered his father's face before crushing the man it held. However, almost immediately Gaara knew something was wrong when no blood came pouring out of it. His surprise grew when one of the blades his Sand defense had caught and had since dropped to the ground flew into the air catching him in the chest. The blow hit hard enough to send him flying back but his sand armor prevented it from piercing his flesh. But it did cause him to lose his concentration enough that the sand surrounding his father in the air fell away enough for him to pull free.

The Kazekage's body was mangled as he stood the best he could while the damage repaired itself. When he was finally able to stand normally Sarutobi said, "I see, so Orochimaru has made you into a simple doll for his use."

Gaara pulled the blade from his chest before having his sand crush it into a lump of metal asking, "What do you mean?"

"The Second Hokage created a jutsu that could resurrect the dead. But he found it to be too much of a blasphemy so made it a forbidden jutsu."

"He naturally only did this after using it several times against his enemies," the Kazekage said.

Sighing Sarutobi admitted, "True I'm afraid and now it seems Orochimaru has mastered it as well."

Gaara stared at his father asking, "Is this why you started us on this path of war with Konoha?"

"No, that was of my own desire to destroy this village. Don't you understand Gaara? Peace is an illusion. Hatred doesn't simply fade away. All it took to get the people of Suna behind this invasion was to mention we'd finally get the chance to avenge the defeat we suffered during the Second Shinobi World War. Most of the active shinobi weren't even alive during that time but still they didn't refuse." Gaara stared impassively at him before shaking his head at his father's words causing the man to ask, "What?"

"Your daughter didn't want anything to do with this invasion. She simply went along with it because that is what duty demanded."

"A good soldier," the Kazekage said dismissively.

"I pity you," Gaara replied causing the man to glare at his son. "You learn that you caused your child pain and all you can say positive about her is related to military terms. You lost your humanity long before becoming a victim of this jutsu. It'll be a mercy to put you down like the animal you are."

"Well said," Sarutobi supplied standing next to Gaara. "Sadly, doing so will prove to be most difficult."

"Tell me what needs to be done," Gaara said his sand rising from its gourde to do its part in sending his father soul screaming into the afterlife.

* * *

Konohamaru needed to pee. After being evacuated to the shelter Iruka had told them to remain in the rooms they had been escorted too. He made a mental note that when he became Hokage to include a bathroom area. Moving to the door, he opened it to find Iruka standing in the hallway looking worried. Although the teacher had told his students it was a drill Konohamaru was positive that something major was happening in the village. But that took a back seat to the fact that he really needed to pee.

As he approached his teacher the man turned saying, "Konohamaru, you need to stay inside the room."

"I really have to go," Konohamaru said being joined by his two friends.

"I'm afraid you'll have to hold it," Iruka replied.

"I can't," he said running down the hall in the opposite direction. His journey for a bathroom came to an abrupt end when he bumped into someone.

Staring up he saw a woman in a trench coat who stared down at him before asking, "Where do you think you're going."

"To the bathroom."

"Sorry kid, hold it like a big boy," Anko said noticing Iruka heading her way with two other brats in tow. Helping him back up she said, "You shouldn't need to hold it much longer though."

* * *

Ibiki was directing Konoha's counter attack from the central command center. "Tell the Inuzuka to move into sector twelve. The Ino-Shika-Chou trio has pushed the enemy they faced there. We'll catch them in a pincer movement."

"Right away sir," the chunin he was talking to said before relaying the message.

Ibiki frowned though as things were progressing almost too well for his liking. The enemy was falling back on all fronts and although the Hokage was fighting an undead Kazekage. He had little doubt that the Hokage would triumph. But he just couldn't get rid of this uneasy feeling that he had. He knew it centered on what Jiraiya had said about Orochimaru being behind the invasion. The thing bothering him was if the Snake Sannin had returned, then why hadn't he been prepared for any of the village's protocols?

He had just arrived to an answer when four individuals dropped into the courtyard that housed the rooms where the civilians were evacuated too. Cursing he called out, "Get some men back to the civilian shelters."

* * *

No sooner had Anko opened her mouth to the kid that had bumped into her then did one of the walls in the room she was guarding explode. Cursing she threw the door to the room open to reveal dead and hurt civilians. Standing in the hole were four kids only slightly older than many of the kids that had participated in the Chunin Exams. Not giving them time to react to her presence she charged at them causing them to scatter backwards into the courtyard. Directing her gaze to the high walls that surrounded it she saw that the chunin who were supposed to be on guard were all dead.

Growling at the people standing in front of her, she said, "You are going to pay for targeting the people of this village." Anko felt Iruka coming up behind her so she said, "Get back inside Iruka. I'll handle this."

"I've left Kotetsu and Izumo in charge of guarding the civilians. You're going to need help taking on these guys if they were able to get past the shinobi guarding the perimeter."

One of the four shinobi a young man with light purple hair stepped forward saying, "This is all the defenders this place has? How pathetic, Lord Orochimaru made it sound like getting in here and killing the civilians was going to be hard."

"Orochimaru," Anko said her voice lowering and getting dangerous, "He's behind this invasion."

Her anger rose when the invaders ignored her question instead a red head said, "Who the fuck cares how hard it was to get in here. Let's just kill these rats and get the job done. We couldn't disable the cameras because Orochimaru wanted the Hokage to see his precious villagers being killed."

"I doubt that geezer is going to survive his fight with the Kazekage," a boy with six arms said with a manic grin in place, "But I agree with Tayuya, let's get on with it."

"You'll have to get by us," Iruka said challengingly.

"You make it sound like it'll be fucking difficult," the one called Tayuya said. As she spoke black marks began spreading over her body which also began to appear on her companions.

"Shit," Anko cursed dropping into a run to close with the invaders believing she understood why her curse mark was reacting to the four kids. Focusing on the boy with purple hair she lashed out with a kick. However, an arm appeared from out of the boys shoulder catching it. With her leg held in place the boy struck her in the stomach and despite only hitting her once she felt as if he had connected dozens of times. He let go of her leg allowing her to stumble backwards and she tried to raise her guard expecting a second attack, which she received, except not from the boy in front of her, but from the side by one with his hair styled into a Mohawk. The boy shoulder tackled her from the side hitting her hard enough that she bounced along the concrete. She came to a rest after smashing into a wall.

Anko got up unsteadily but managed to block the next kick from the purple haired boy who had sprinted after her by raising her arm. But she was caught by surprise as a hand appeared from the leg grabbing a hold of her arm so that when the boy pulled his leg away she was tossed across the courtyard right into the path of the boy she was beginning to think of as Mohawk. He hit her in the chest in midair with a palm strike that sent her right back at the purple haired boy who hit her in the back with a kick that felt like it connected multiple times again.

Anko was ready though as she flew back to Mohawk and grabbing ahold of his outstretched hand pulled herself out of the way of the attack and connected with his chest with both of her feet. Flipping off of him, Anko frowned when she landed on her feet and noticed that the boy had only stumbled backwards a few feet. Getting ready for the boy's next attack she spared a moment to see how well Iruka was faring.

Iruka blocked a kick from the kunoichi Tayuya making sure to keep close to her as to prevent her from playing her flute. She had already tried to place him in a genjutsu but Iruka had shaken off the effects before the six arm boy she had called Kidoumaru could take advantage. He was keeping close to the girl also in hopes of preventing the boy from using his webs to immobilize him. It was a strategy that appeared to be working since the boy abandoned his position to close with him after spiting some golden webs into his hands that appeared to harden into knives.

Tayuya used Kidoumaru's jumping into the fray as the opening she needed to leap away. While in mid-air though she was forced to use her flute to block the kunai the chunin she had fought threw at her. She exploded into a flurry of curses when the knife buried itself into the musical instrument creating another hole which would prevent her from casting genjutsu since they all worked on specific melodies. Tossing it away she said, "There's no way you're only a fucking chunin."

Iruka smiled and after kicking away Kidoumaru said, "You're right. I'm also a teacher."

Tayuya growled angrily but Kidoumaru created some distance from the teacher since he seemed no longer interested in remaining close to Tayuya since he destroyed her flute and means of casting genjutsu. It was a mistake the man wouldn't get to make twice as the boy planned to pick away at his defenses using his long range attacks already feeling the effects as his enjoyment of the battle caused him to go into his Curse Mark Level Two state.

"Go help the others," Kidoumaru said using his webs to lift himself into the air.

Tayuya bristled at the boy commanding her since she was viewed as the second strongest of the Sound Four. But was forced to admit without her flute and forced to rely on Taijutsu was at a disadvantage. She nodded, moving off to help the other two that were having a harder time now that Anko seemed to have relaxed and gotten her measure of her opponents' abilities.

Kidoumaru smiled after creating a bow from his spider silk saying, "She's never going to forgive me for ordering her around like that. I'm going to have to make your death nice and slow for the aggravation I'm going to experience for it."

Despite himself Iruka smiled as he thought, "_Good. The longer you take killing me the more time reinforcements have to arrive. Not that I plan on dying_." Iruka began calculating how fast the bow would be able to launch the arrows he expected to be coming his way soon based on its length in order to avoid slipping into what was commonly called the no avoidance zone. It was basically the distance between two people in which a person couldn't react fast enough to dodge. He frowned though when Kidoumaru fell back even further not understanding what the boy was planning.

He received his answer when the boy hovering in midair by two stands of his thread made a web between two of his hands while biting the thumb of a third said, "Now let's invite one more guest to the party," before summoning a giant spider which landed in front of the stunned teacher. "Now try not to die too quickly," Kidoumaru said cutting one of the threads holding him in the air to swing to the wall of the courtyard and taking up aim at the teacher waited for the opening his summons would make for him.

* * *

"Hold still damn you," Jiraiya shouted as Orochimaru slithered away from him avoiding his hair in its Wild Lion's Mane form as it tried to grab ahold of his slippery opponent.

Slithering around the training grounds Orochimaru chuckled as he heard the frustration in Jiraiya's voice. Coming to a stop as his old friends hair returned to normal the Snake Sannin said, "What's the matter Jiraiya, your age catching up to you?"

"Not at all old friend," Jiraiya said his tone jovial despite how serious he was taking his opponent, "I'm simply warming up for when you decide to get serious as well."

"Ah, well then let me kill you and move on then," Orochimaru said charging at his old teammate. He lashed out with a kick which Jiraiya blocked by raising his arm up. Before Jiraiya could respond in kind Orochimaru flipped backwards landing on all fours and from his mouth it appeared thousands of snakes sprouted out.

The snakes slithered around the ground towards Jiraiya who shouted, "Hell Needles." His hair wrapped around him in a variation of his Needle Jizo. When he was completely covered, it produced a volley of hardened hair follicles that began shredding the approaching wall of snakes.

Orochimaru was forced to slither away quickly as his jutsu was defeated by Jiraiya. He took a moment to look where Jiraiya had been standing to find him gone. Looking forward he was surprised to find Jiraiya had body flickered in front of him and was charging him with a Rasengan. His eyes widened in shock as Jiraiya shouted, "Got you," as he plunged the jutsu into his stomach.

Jiraiya felt no satisfaction as his jutsu tore into his old teammates gut as Orochimaru's mouth opened wide to scream. However, he knew something was amiss when the mouth just kept widening and a whole new Orochimaru slithered out. The skin he had just shed blew apart as the Rasengan released its energy.

Straightening his stance Jiraiya watched as the slimy Orochimaru got back to his feet with a sinister smile on his face. Already analyzing what he witnessed Jiraiya said, "That was no simple body replacement jutsu. My attack connected this is something else."

"Very astute Jiraiya," Orochimaru said his tone sounding both mocking and praising at the same time.

Not finding any sign of damage to his ex-teammate, Jiraiya arrived at one conclusion saying, "This isn't your true form or body. Just what have you done to yourself?"

"Would you like to see," Orochimaru said reaching to his face. Pulling the flesh away, he revealed the features of an attractive woman although her full-bodied face appeared to look rather unnatural on Orochimaru's frame.

"You monster," Jiraiya said.

"Now Jiraiya I assure you she…"

"No, to rob the world of such beauty is too unforgiveable," Jiraiya said. "I'll be sure to send you to hell, if only to protect any more fair maidens from falling victim to that jutsu."

"You just can't help falling into that fool routine of yours, can you?" Orochimaru asked after reapplying his normal face.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm being completely serious," Jiraiya said indignity.

"I doubt that." Giving an evil smile Orochimaru said, "I know how to really get you motivated though." Before Jiraiya could ask what Orochimaru what he meant the man disappeared into the ground. It then began rumbling before rupturing as a giant snake shot from out of it. But instead of targeting Jiraiya the snake quickly slithered towards Konoha.

"Dammit," Jiraiya cursed giving chase as the last place he wanted to engage in a full on battle with his fellow Sannin was in the middle of the Leaf Village.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto arrived at the stairwell that lead to the evacuation shelters only to find the familiar structure to be littered with a few dead chunin. Naruto could sense the worry that was emanating from Sakura since her parents should be up ahead. He placed a hand on her shoulder saying, "You can stay here Sakura."

Sakura could almost hear the, "just in case," Naruto's sentence called for. But she shook her head saying, "I'm sure the other defenders stopped whoever made it this far." Naruto nodded, as she turned to look at him and she could see the worry he felt for her. She smiled to reassure him she was fine but nevertheless allowed him to take point on the journey up the stairs.

As they walked cautiously, Sakura remembered all the times they had taken the stairs during their time in the Academy. Back then it had been simply a precaution the instructors took much like how they had fire drills. Sakura remembered that during those times many of the girls would ask Sasuke if he'd protect them in a real emergency. Naturally he blew them off, simply continuing on up the stairs causing the many girls to fawn over how cool he was. Sadly she was as guilty of that as the others.

She remembered how once when she had been the one to ask Sasuke it had been Naruto who said he would protect her. All the other girls had laughed at her since only the dead last would come to her rescue. She frowned as she recalled that instead of focusing on the fact that unlike the other girls she had someone come forward claiming to be willing to protect her. She had viewed the event as another of Naruto's attempts to get between her and Sasuke. Causing Sakura to deliver a punch to the top of his skull telling him that he was the absolute last person she wanted coming to her rescue.

Now though she realized how lucky she was even back then to have someone like Naruto interested in her. Looking back on the memories she had of Sasuke's many rebukes to her advances, if they could truly be called rebukes, she realized that unlike the other girls that when Sasuke would ignore them she never had that moment of rejection where she wondered what was wrong with her. Thinking of the time Ino had asked as they were on the stairs by running in front of him and holding out her arms hoping to get an actual answer from him. But Sasuke had simply walked around with his hands in his pockets not even bothering to slow down. Sakura had seen a moment of insecurity in her ex-bestfriend's eyes as the object of her affection walked past. However, Sakura never was really given the chance to feel her own eat away at her after a rejection because Naruto was always there to soften the blow by quickly proclaiming how much he liked her.

They passed another corpse and the grisly sight forced her to stop her reminiscing. Approaching the top of the stairs they could hear the sounds of shinobi clashing. Naruto was about to charge up the last few steps, intent on helping whoever was fighting, but Sakura grabbed his hand before he could take off yelling. He turned back to ask her what was wrong but she held a finger up in front of her mouth shushing him. She then pulled him after her running up the wall to look in on the courtyard.

She gasped at the dead lookouts she found up there but moved on to focus on the grounds in front of the shelters. She was surprised to find that all the dead bodies appeared to be the result of the four creatures that were fighting the two remaining Leaf shinobi. She figured the giant spider attacking the male shinobi was a summons but what the other were she couldn't truly fathom as they appeared to be demons of some sort.

The male Leaf shinobi avoided an arrow that shot from beneath their vantage point and she guessed there may have been a fifth opponent in the enclosed area. She almost gasped as the arrow nearly hit the man but he managed to avoid it at the last second. The shinobi took a moment to glare at the person who fired the arrow revealing the man to be Iruka.

Sakura felt Naruto tense but he apparently realized why she didn't want them to go charging in as he asked his voice hushed, "What are we going to do Sakura?"

Sakura felt the pressure of Naruto's belief in her but vowing to prove herself worthy of it began to analyze what she had thus far seen. Guessing that the spider was being used as a means of distraction so that the bowman could catch Iruka unaware she asked, "Naruto, do you think you can summon Gamabunta?"

Naruto looked away saying, "No…I need to get rid of most of my chakra before I can do that."

Realizing that he was referring to his need to use the Kyuubi's chakra even though he hadn't come out and said it, she asked, "Oh…Well do you think you can summon something big enough to take out that spider?"

He was obviously surprised at her not commenting on how backwards his need to bleed off most of his chakra had sounded. But he responded with a nod. Smiling she said, "Good, then here's what we're going to do."

* * *

Iruka cursed as he needed to avoid another arrow. Directing his glare at Kidoumaru he thought he caught sight of two heads peeking over the edge of the cliff into the area. Before he could give too much thought to the matter he was forced to leap away as the spider opened its mouth to roar at him as it charged. He was vaguely aware of Kidoumaru taking up aim at him again while he was in the air. Cursing that his inattention had probably given the sound-nin the moment he was looking for he only hoped he had bought reinforcements enough time that the two remaining chunin and Anko could hold them off until they arrived.

He closed his eyes picturing the many students he had guided on their path to shinobihood not surprised that his mind ended on Naruto whom he was sure had probably the most promising career ahead of him despite what his grades had suggested. The image was so vivid he could almost hear the boy shouting, "Summoning Jutsu."

Frowning since he wondered why he would imagine Naruto shouting that as he opened his eyes only to see a giant cloud of smoke appearing in the air. From the smoke came an orange and blue blur which smashed right into the back of the spider. He turned his attention towards Kidoumaru who appeared just as surprised at the turn of events as Iruka which explained why the young man almost didn't sense Sakura who was running down the rock wall until she was right behind him. The Sound-nin did sense the attack at the last moment though and turned to face her receiving a punch to his face that caused the sound-nin to fall towards the ground. He recovered in midair though turning his fall into a graceful landing.

The dust settled around where the spider had been to show Naruto and an orange and blue toad with a necklace whose medallion's kanji read loyalty on it, standing atop of a very smushed spider. "Kyodaigumo," Kidoumaru shouted angrily taking aim at the toad after forming a new arrow with a thread attached to it.

When the Sound-nin fired his arrow the summons that Jiraiya usually traveled with jumped into the air in hopes of avoiding it. However the arrow curved up wards tracking them which caused Naruto to say, "Dispel yourself," as he leapt off of its head. The smoke of the toad doing exactly that obscured Naruto from view so that Kidoumaru couldn't zero in on him.

Sakura having landed next to Iruka shouted, "Now Naruto."

"Shadow Clone Jutsu," was the reply from the cloud surprising Kidoumaru as hundreds of blonde boys appeared from the smoke landing in between him and the chunin and pinked haired girl.

Anko planted her fist firmly in Tayuya's stomach; she then grabbed the transformed girl by the horn and threw her towards her two teammates neither of whom tried to catch her. Using the confusion the sudden appearance of an army of blondes bought her. She quickly jumped away from her opponents to regroup along with Iruka and the two genin.

"Saved by genin," Anko said with a hint of mortification, "I'm never going to live this down."

"Hey lady you could always go back to fighting those three by yourself since we were only trying to save Iruka-sensei," Naruto shot back.

"Oh, aren't you a feisty thing. Maybe I can show you how appreciative a beautiful woman like me can be later," Anko teased in a way that made Naruto blush even though he didn't really understand what she was talking about.

Sakura did though, saying, "Isn't it kind of sad for an old lady like you to be hitting on a boy his age?"

"Old lady," Anko said indignantly, "why you little brat..."

"Not to interrupt but don't you think we have more pressing concerns," Iruka interrupted with a tight smile despite the grave situation. As although he could have been imagining it he thought he heard jealousy in Sakura's voice during her response to Anko's teasing.

Anko let the matter drop instead focusing on the four Sound-nin that had spent the few moments regrouping themselves as well. "What are they?" Sakura asked focusing on them as well.

"Don't let their appearances fool you," Anko said all traces of the slight animosity between them forgotten, "they are human. They're just using some jutsu provided to them by Orochimaru that gives them a boost in power."

Sakura nodded before saying, "How long have they been like that?"

"About ten minutes, why?" Anko asked not seeing how it mattered.

"Well if it's like most jutsu that temporarily boosts abilities then there has to be a point in which they'll revert to normal. All we have to do is push them to that point at which time they'll probably be pretty weak. Naruto."

"Right," the army of clones responded not needing to be told what their role was to be. They quickly charged the four Sound-nin who although fighting defensively were proving to be quite capable.

"Not bad pinky," Anko said surprised at the girl coming up with such a clever strategy. Not being able to prevent herself from teasing the girl a little she said, "Maybe I'll let you watch me and your boyfriend."

"Yo…you…you…pervert," Sakura said blushing a deep shade of crimson.

Anko laughed mischievously taking off to help the blonde army saying, "Come on Iruka. Let's show these brats we aren't ready to be put out to pasture just yet."

She leapt into the fray followed by Iruka who with the help of the clones were quickly driving the Sound-nin back and away from the frightened civilians.

* * *

Jiraiya had managed to get in front of the snake Orochimaru had summoned but far closer to the edge of the training fields then he would have liked. As the snake appeared from the woods he cast the Swamp of the Underworld Jutsu. The ground beneath the fast moving creature liquefied trapping it almost instantly. But it opened its mouth and Orochimaru launched from it landing safely on the still solid ground in front of Jiraiya.

"Persistent aren't you," Orochimaru said his insufferable smile annoying Jiraiya.

"Like I'd let you rampage inside Konoha to your heart's content," Jiraiya countered.

"Too bad and I was hoping to see Sarutobi one last time before he died."

"Enough of that, besides you'll be dead long before him," Jiraiya retorted dropping into his stance.

"Jiraiya, Jiraiya, do you honestly think you are capable of killing me," Orochimaru said releasing his killing intent.

"Knock it off," Jiraiya said, "I'm not some punk kid that you can intimidate."

Before Orochimaru could respond though a chakra signature that every person of Konoha recognized suddenly flared into existence. Jiraiya turned towards it shocked thinking, "_It can't be_…"

Orochimaru used the moment to charge Jiraiya saying, "Perhaps it's not me that you should be worried about rampaging in the village. If I'm right he's right near the evacuation shelter."

Jiraiya deflected Orochimaru's attack before striking him in the side of the head. As his old teammate stumbled back Jiraiya said, "That just means I can't fool around with you anymore." The Toad Sage then quickly closed with Orochimaru who tried to ensnare him with the snakes that sprouted from his sleeve. Leaping away Jiraiya cursed that beating Orochimaru wasn't going to be easy while he thought, "_Please let the seal hold_."

* * *

Shikamaru had feigned sleep when he felt the stirrings of the genjutsu begin to affect him. After the sudden removal of the Sand-nin from the arena he had been aiding the defenders by setting up ambushes using his shadow technique. He was hiding behind a corner when a patrol tried to attack Asuma from behind. Quickly catching them, he waited until his sensei noticed them before releasing them as Asuma plowed into their midst. As the last one fell the man said, "Thanks Shikamaru. It's almost enough to make me forget your forfeiting your match."

"Aw come on Asuma."

"Forget it, I plan to work you guys double hard from here on out," Asuma said but smiled at the look of abject horror on his student's face.

Before Shikamaru could try and change his teacher's mind a dead Sound-nin landed next to them followed by the man that killed him. "Looks like the arena is secured Kakashi," Asuma said as the jounin joined them while pulling down his headband.

"Yeah," Kakashi said disinterestedly worrying about the fate of his team. Gazing over the arena and not seeing any sign of pink he guessed that Sakura had fallen back on the guidelines that all available genin try and make it to the evacuation shelters unless directed not to by a superior. He had seen his students among the spectators but considering that they appeared to be on a date had decided to let them be.

"Should we go help the Hokage," Kakashi asked directing his attention to the roof of the castle where he was fighting the Kazekage.

His choice of destinations was made for him when a chakra he felt thirteen years previously engulfed the area in its oppressive feeling. "Kakashi," Asuma said his tone sounding slightly panicked.

"Yeah," Kakashi said quickly taking off hoping the worse hadn't happened and the Kyuubi hadn't escaped.

* * *

Ibiki had breathed a little easier when the two genin appeared. As when the teams pushing the invaders back had tried to head to the monument to reinforce it a number of enemies had apparently snuck in behind them in order to delay their return. But despite that the two genin appeared to have tipped things in Anko and the chunin's whose name escaped him favor. As the army of clones with the three other shinobi's helped began to force the group he was calling the Sound Four back. He began to believe that everything would be okay after all. Then the pink haired girl went down, and although he wasn't sure what had happened to her, after that happened all hell broke loose as the clones to a single person stopped to stare at the shivering girl. One of them broke away to check on her and then the kid with the Mohawk broke through the stunned clones line to trap him and the girl in some large rock dome. Meanwhile his teammates also took advantage by dispelling as many of them as they could before moving on to Anko and the chunin.

That was when he lost his visual of the area as the sudden surge in chakra blew out his cameras plunging his screens into static. But the feeling of the vile chakra that swept over the area caused him to worry that the civilians' savior was also going to be the thing behind their deaths.

* * *

Sakon blocked Anko's kick only to be kicked in the knee by a clone buckling it from under him. From his kneeling position Anko's next attack an uppercut to his chin launched him into the air. Luckily for him Tayuya threw a clone at the woman preventing her from following up. Rolling to his feet he used the few moments of time he had to continue to analyze his opponents' strategy. Kidoumaru threw a dagger made of his golden web at the exposed back of the pink haired genin that had arrived with the Blonde as she fought Jiroubou. Suddenly a blonde appeared taking the hit before dispelling. Although it was an act he was sure the clones would do for any of the Leaf-nin there had been something frantic in its need to protect her. Thinking along that line he noticed that many of the clones were grouped around her much more so then any of the other shinobi.

Charging through the clones Sakon closed with Kidoumaru and after reaching him as his opponents seemed to be all clones at the moment helped the six-armed boy drive them back enough that he could say, "Summon one of your poisonous spiders and send it after the pink-haired girl."

"Sure but why," Kidoumaru asked not sure what Sakon's plan was.

"Just do it," was the response Sakon gave him as he began moving towards Jiroubou. The pink-haired girl pulled back as he approached obvious respecting the fact that with two of them there she was at a disadvantage even with the clones.

Reaching Jiroubou, after smashing a clone's head into the ground, he said, "Watch for pinkie to go down."

"Why?"

"Because if I'm right it'll flush the bastard behind these clones out and I want you to trap him," Sakon said.

* * *

Sakura leapt back as the Sound-nin linked up with the one she had been fighting. Not ready to take them both on she was wondering at just how long they could possibly last in their current form. Especially in light of the fact that she was nearing her limit. She had quickly discovered that her ability to use chakra to strengthen her blows really wasn't as developed as she could have hoped. Using it against Naruto in a spar was one thing and even then her skill with it had been hit or miss. But it was almost impossible in a true battle situation. Jiraiya just wasn't able to provide her with the insights she needed to master it since his only input was she needed to gather and release it perfectly. Strangely when the one Sound-nin had hurt Naruto it had almost been second nature for her to send the man into orbit.

She pulled back far enough to catch her breath a moment and to gage where she could do the most good when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her leg. Looking down she saw a spider almost as big as her fist latched to her leg. She brushed it off and it disappeared into smoke before she could bring her foot down on it. She felt the toxin spreading through her body causing her to grab her stomach in pain as the muscles there contracted painfully. Moaning weakly she collapsed unaware that a clone saw her do so and was dispelled spreading the knowledge that Sakura had been felled throughout the army.

Naruto wasn't aware of how he knew but he suddenly felt overcome by the feeling that Sakura had been hurt. Instinctively knowing which way to look he found her lying on the ground shivering as if she was cold. He ran towards her seeing the angry looking insect bite on her leg. Directing his gaze to the six arm freak he knew the bastard was the one behind it especially by the all too pleased way he was staring at him. As he held Sakura to him due to a sudden strong fit of shivers the sun was blocked out as a dome of rock appeared around him.

From inside he got the strange sensation of his army of clone being wiped out as well as the Sound-nin taking up positions around the dome. He heard as the purple haired boy called Sakon said, "Now let's see how well you two do on your own."

As the sounds of battle picked up again Jiroubou said smugly, "Apparently not so well." Naruto though focused on Sakura who seemed to be getting weaker. He became aware of Jiroubou talking to him when the boy said, "Man I'm going to gorge myself on your chakra. It's a pity you have so much because pinkie in her weakened state probably isn't going to last nearly as long as you. The only question is what's going to kill her first having her chakra sucked dry or the poison."

Naruto looked at her frantically and moved towards the wall of the dome where he tried to form a Rasengan hoping that even if he hadn't mastered it he could use it to escape. Sadly as soon as it began to form it seemed to be sucked away by the wall. Cursing it felt like a knife stabbed through his heart as Sakura weakly mumbled, "Naruto…"

She was apparently loud enough for Jiroubou to hear as he said, "Aw, how sweet she must be calling out to you. Too bad she seems to be placing her hopes in a weak piece of trash like…What!"

Naruto didn't know what gave way only that the pain and anger of failing Sakura seemed to cause some sudden upsurge in power. It was accompanied by a desire to destroy the source of the taunts and throwing a punch at the wall was surprised as it exploded outwards followed by a claw that caught Jiroubou in the chest picking him up and smashing him into the rock wall behind him causing a portion of it to collapse.

Iruka spun away from Sakon who had hit him and tripped over Anko who had skidded along the ground behind him from a kick by Tayuya. Both Sound-nin jumped away landing on either side of Kidoumaru who taking aim with his bow directed the two arrows it held at them as they helped each other up. He was about to fire when the Kyuubi's chakra enveloped the area. To Iruka who directed his attention towards the dome it appeared as if the fox's head was appearing above the dome. A hole then exploded out of it followed by a claw which carried away the screaming sound-nin.

Before anyone could react Naruto appeared behind the Leaf-nin depositing Sakura near the entrance to the hole the Sound Four had blown in the shelter. Iruka noticed that some of the civilians looking through it watching the battle backed up in fright. He set her down gently before walking back towards the remaining Sound-nin passing Iruka along the way, who said, "Naruto…"

"It's me, Iruka-sensei," Naruto replied his voice sounding deeper and menacing, "Please see to Sakura."

"Naruto, you can't take them on by yourself," he tried to reason.

Naruto dropped into a crouch and Iruka stepped back seeing a chakra tail appear as a fox-like shroud appeared around him as he said, "I'm not going to take them on. I'm going to kill them."

"Oh yeah kid try it," Sakon said trying to sound braver then he felt as even only Orochimaru had ever put out such a potent and ominous chakra.

Naruto took off running on all fours as the three Sound-nin reacted. Kidoumaru fired his bow, while Sakon and Tayuya braced themselves for his attack. Sakon could even feel his brother preparing to leave his body to add his strength to the fray. Naruto charged head on at the arrow and to everyone's surprise disappeared just as it was about to hit him. He reappeared suddenly right next to Sakon in the air and delivered a kick to the side of his head that sent him flying. Tayuya tried to leap away but was caught as Naruto extended his arm and the chakra shot away from it grabbing her. The red chakra claw slammed her against the wall of the courtyard and then with a wave of his arm he dragged her across it cutting a furrow as he went before tossing her away.

Kidoumaru had pulled six-blades to plunge them into Naruto while his back was turned. But Naruto avoided it by spinning away causing the Sound-nin to bury them into the ground. A red claw wrapped around his chest pinning his arms and then Naruto pulled him towards him before glaring into the boy's eyes. All Kidoumaru saw was death in the red pupils as the Naruto growled, "You hurt Sakura." He then slowly raised his other fist and began punching him in the face repeatedly.

* * *

Sakon felt as if a sledge hammer had been taken to his skull. He felt someone help him to his feet and recognized his brother's voice as he said, "Get inside Sakon. We're getting out of here."

Weakly Sakon said, "Lord Orochimaru is not going to be happy that we failed."

"Perhaps," Ukon said but seeing as more and more blood began spattering from Kidoumaru's face due to the punishment the blonde was delivering added, "But the worse he can do is kill us. Staying here means we're certainly going to die." Sakon nodded and merged with his brother's body vowing next time they met the boy was going to pay for this defeat.

* * *

Iruka watched as Anko looked Sakura over saying, "It's definitely a poison. My guess is a spider of the Widow family except way more potent than most."

"Damn will the Hospital have an antidote?"

"Hard to say. They'll have to narrow it down and at the rate this shit is attacking her system she'll be dead and if that happens…" Anko said trailing off just as Naruto captured Kidoumaru. She winced as he began hitting the boy over and over. Staring up at him she said, "If pinkie dies who knows what'll happen."

"He's in control," Iruka said but worried as Naruto didn't stop.

"For how long?" Anko countered reaching into her pouch considering taking the boy out.

Iruka glared at her but could sense more and more of the Kyuubi's chakra bleeding out no doubt being fueled by Naruto's anger. His eyes went wide he realized the best way to control the situation. Taking off he ran towards his former student shouting, "Naruto stop. If he's the one that poisoned her there's a chance he has an antidote."

Naruto stopped mid-swing and Kidoumaru despite how swollen his face was took the lifeline Iruka had extended saying, "I have one."

Naruto brought the boy's face closer to his growling out, "You better not be lying."

"I'm not….I swear," the Sound-nin said feeling the desire to empty his bladder at the threat or more fitting promise of pain the boy would no doubt deliver if he was lying.

Naruto marched them towards Sakura before forcing him to his knees his red chakra still swirling around him. He then said, "Give it to her."

Kidoumaru shakily reached into his ninja pouch procuring a vile of a clear liquid. Anko took it from him and pulling out a kit ran a quick test to make sure it was legitimate. Satisfied that at the very least it wouldn't make Sakura worse she filled a syringe and injected it into the wound. Almost immediately the angry looking purple veins surrounding it began to recede, causing Kidoumaru to say, "See."

"Yeah," Naruto said before smashing his fist into the boys head sending him into unconsciousness. Seeing Sakura breathing easier Naruto felt his chakra draining away and collapsed to his knees next to her feeling tears entering his vision.

As Naruto knelt next to Sakura fighting the urge to cry in front of so many people, Iruka directed his gaze to the hole filled with curious civilians and hoped that they didn't take their recent exposure to the Kyuubi's chakra as a sign that they were right in their past treatment of the boy.

* * *

Jiraiya was breathing hard as he leaned against a collapsed wall his battle with Orochimaru having entered the village proper. He took some pleasure in seeing the smug look that seemed to be a constant fixture on his fellow Sannin's face was now gone replaced by a haggard one.

"I…I can see why they called you the town's madman," Orochimaru said his breathing sounding raspy as he panted his hands on his knees.

"Save your flattery," Jiraiya said pushing off the wall and running at his opponent. He was almost out of chakra but knew that Orochimaru was as well. He knew one well placed jutsu by either of them would most likely decide the victor.

Orochimaru straightened deflecting Jiraiya's punch while allowing Jiraiya to push him back. Too tired to adequately defend himself from Jiraiya's assault, it was all that he could do to prevent the Toad Sannin from landing a solid blow.

Jiraiya feinted a punch, and when Orochimaru went to block it grabbed his arm and spinning tossed him into a wall. Orochimaru slid down it slowly and Jiraiya saw his chance reaching his hand back to form a Rasengan.

"You…you don't want to do that," Orochimaru said weakly.

"True, but it needs to be done. You're no longer are fit to remain in this world."

"Not what I mean Jiraiya," Orochimaru said pointing towards one of the roofs.

Jiraiya followed it to see the Third and a young boy looking bloodied and battered against a fresh looking Kazekage. "No way is the Kazekage strong enough to beat Sarutobi-sensei even at his advanced age."

Chuckling Orochimaru said, "He is if he can't be killed."

Jiraiya tensed about to plunge his jutsu into his old friend prompting Orochimaru to say, "I wouldn't do that as I said. Because then who is going to cancel the jutsu and that would leave Sarutobi with only one way to permanently defeat the Kazekage."

Jiraiya glared at him saying, "End it."

"I will once you swear to let me go."

* * *

Sarutobi felt the Kyuubi's chakra but refused to believe the seal had failed. He was quickly able to determine that the amount he felt paled in comparison to the night thirteen years ago. Still in the back of his mind he hoped that Naruto's lot in life wasn't about to get worse.

He battered away another of the spinning blades only to have to raise Enma again as the Kazekage caught it and tried to bury it in his skull. Parrying the red-headed man they fought for position as they each tried to overpower the other. Sadly in that particular test of might he was coming out the loser until the Kazekage was forced to leap back before being caught in Gaara's sand.

Landing the two remaining blades the Kazekage had moved about him erratically giving neither Gaara nor Sarutobi a clear opening in which to strike. But before the Kazekage could attack again his skin began flaking away.

"I see, I guess my usefulness is at an end," the Kazekage said staring at his hands as pieces of him began flecking off. Directing his gaze to his son, the man that cursed him with the life of a jinchuriki said, "Gaara you have become strong. I'm curious to see if this new outlook on life lasts in the face of the challenges this invasion will raise."

"Thanks to his actions, Sand and Leaf will remain at peace," Sarutobi said.

"Will it? I'm afraid hatred can't be so easily erased. Eventually it'll boil over again."

"Then I'll be there to stop it," Gaara said calmly.

The Kazekage's eyes widened in shock as for a moment as he thought he saw his wife in the cloud of sand that was swirling around Gaara expecting another attack. In many respects he realized that his wife's curse had come to pass as her son had defeated him and the Sunagakure that had caused him to seal Shukaku into Gaara. Bowing his head in defeat the Fourth Kazekage said, "Very well Gaara. Then build a village in which hate doesn't exist as the Fifth Kazekage." As his existence faded the shocked look that appeared on Gaara's face brought a measure of peace to the man's soul. He may not have been much of a father or husband, but at lease he felt somewhat secure in knowing that the village he had sacrificed everything for was in worthy hands.

* * *

Jiraiya stared out over the outer wall of the village. His gaze hadn't moved from the spot where Orochimaru had disappeared into the woods. It had been over half an hour when an Anbu appeared behind him kneeling.

"What is it?" he asked his voice sounding tired.

"Our scouts have returned and it appears that Sand is approaching."

"I see. Does the Hokage have a plan?"

"He does, but he wants you to remain here and if he doesn't return you are to take over the title of Hokage."

Jiraiya shook his head before saying, "Then let's both hope he makes it back."

* * *

**AN2:** Again sorry for the long wait. I also would like to take this moment to thank Agent G who helped flush out my idea of having the Kazekage as the one that Sarutobi fought by suggesting that Orochimaru used Impure World Resurrection. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and hopefully the next won't be as long in the making. Sincerely your humble author S. o. t. A.


	8. Chapter 8 The Calm

**An:** Sorry for the long wait. Let me thank those that took the time to review as always your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit**

**Chapter 8: The Calm**

Gaara stood on a tree branch next to the legendary Third Hokage. Moving only his eyes to look at the man who was holding his staff and summons Enma with one hand having planted it into the branch, he wondered if the man was as calm as he appeared or much like him simply wasn't showing the nervousness that Gaara himself was feeling. The Hokage was staring ahead scanning the forest for the legion of Sand-nin that probably thought they were on their way to rejoin the battle for Konoha. Sarutobi's face almost appeared to be a mask of infinite confidence and a determination that if he was going to end up fighting the coming shinobi that it would be a difficult battle for them. Gaara found that incredible, as it was only the two of them there and they were far enough away from Konoha that help would not arrive quickly.

But even knowing that Gaara could swear the man next to him was giving off an aura that all but screamed that even in death he couldn't be defeated. Sarutobi must have felt Gaara's gaze on him as he turned to look at him and as he did the face of the hardened leader melt into a friendly one that only his uncle had used to use. Despite or perhaps because of it, Gaara could tell that this one held none of the hidden malice his uncle's had.

"Nervous Lord Kazekage," Sarutobi asked.

"No," Gaara lied.

"Oh, then you're a braver man then me," Sarutobi said chuckling when Gaara's head spun to look at him fully with a confused face, which he quickly composed.

Sarutobi chuckled before saying, "I've been in more battles then I can easily count and to be honest I've always felt a sense of nervousness before each one. The cause of it is different each time but it is always there. I wish I could say becoming Hokage or becoming an old man made it go away, but sadly it only intensifies the feeling."

"Why?"

"Well I guess it's because as the Hokage all my actions may have repercussions that can affect my home and as an old man I fear I don't still possess the strength to adequately defend it. Take for example my failure to handle Orochimaru years ago. Because of that one inability to act all that has befallen our two villages today is my fault. Furthermore, if I can't convince the coming shinobi of the foolishness of pushing on with their attack then by tomorrow our villages may be at war."

Gaara nodded but said, "Then we must not fail."

Sarutobi inclined his head before focusing on the forest ahead of him and shouting, "I, Sarutobi Hiruzen the Third Hokage demand that the current leader of the forces moving on Konoha make himself known."

For a moment nothing happened and Sarutobi could feel that the leader was weighing his options. Gaara as calm sounding as ever said, "Baki, I know that you are in charge at the moment."

A, "tck," sound was heard before a man with half his face covered by cloth appeared on a branch in front of them. He stared hard a Gaara for several moments before raising his open hand. He then closed it into a fist and the two were suddenly surrounded by the Sand forces all tensed and ready to attack. The Third Hokage stared at the various shinobi and noticed that most of them appeared to be more fearful of facing the young man next to him then of fighting the Legendary Professor. Focusing on Baki he said, "An unnecessary display. That Gaara and I are here should tell you all that you need to know about the current state of Konoha."

"All it tells me," Baki said harshly, "is that my Kazekage has fallen because all his shinobi were forced out of the village."

"Yet because of that Sand has a chance to save face," Sarutobi replied calmly. "I'm sorry to say that the Fourth Kazekage died well before today. The man that Gaara and I faced was brought back to this plane of existence due to the Impure Resurrection Jutsu." Sarutobi could see his words obviously surprised Baki as it did the rest of the gathered shinobi. Pressing his point he continued, "Although the Fourth Kazekage made it no secret that he had chosen to ally himself with Orochimaru's ambition. My former student's betrayal and Gaara's actions does give us all a chance to prevent any further loss of life."

"That may be, but I know for a fact that the Kazekage was all for this invasion. It would be remiss of us not to fulfill his will and killing you here will hurt the Leaf in preparation for our attack."

Sarutobi nodded but said, "Your loyalty is commendable, however before Orochimaru ended the jutsu due to his defeat at Jiraiya's hands…" Sarutobi paused to allow it to sink into the gathered shinobi that Jiraiya was inside Konoha to further dishearten them before continuing, "Your Kazekage named his successor as Gaara."

"You expect us to believe that," a hot-headed Jounin shouted causing Baki to glare at him for his impetuousness.

"Forgive the outburst Lord Hokage," Baki said calmly. "However, if you knew of Gaara's reputation or his standing with his father, I'm sure that you'd understand why we find that hard to believe."

Gaara didn't allow his feeling of disappointment to reach his face but before either he or Sarutobi could respond Temari landed next to him. She then dropped to one of her knees saying, "What are your orders, Lord Kazekage?"

"Temari," Baki barked angrily.

But Temari defiantly said, "The only person in this whole screwed up affair that has acted in Suna's best interest is Gaara. I'm choosing to believe that in his final moments Father recognized that or at the very least saw that having Gaara in a position to care about the village was in its best interests." Standing she pulled her fan and opening it took up a position in front of her brother as she said, "If you can't see that also, then you're going to have to strike me down too."

"Temari…" Gaara said surprised.

In response Temari said, "I'm sorry, I haven't been the big sister you deserved Gaara."

Baki still looked like he would possibly give the order to attack till Kankurou appeared next to his sister with crow already unwrapped and chattering in front of him. "Guess if this goes bad we go out as a family then," the puppeteer said moving his fingers to manipulate his puppet.

With both of the Kazekage's children siding with their brother, Baki could feel many of the shinobi around him hesitance to attack increase. But instead of the fear that had been behind it before, knew that it had changed to a belief that cutting down some of the strongest and brightest of the next generation would only further cripple an already weakened village. But this time they would be doing it to themselves instead of as a result of actions undertaken by their Daimyo. Dropping to his knee Baki asked, "Your orders?"

"We'll withdraw back to Suna," Gaara said moving from behind his siblings.

"As ordered," Baki said standing.

Before he gave the order to retreat though Baki was surprised when the Third Hokage bowed almost completely in half to the young man saying, "Again, I thank you in your efforts in protecting my home Lord Kazekage. Also, as per our discussion I'll begin fixing our practice of allowing the selling of our services to your Daimyo at cheaper rates then your own village can afford. I am glad you brought it to my attention that it was hurting your village." As Sarutobi straightened after Gaara returned the bow, Baki could see that the gesture wasn't lost on the shinobi present. After all it was a gesture that the previous Kazekage had never received.

As the shinobi surrounding them began to retreat Gaara took several steps away from the Hokage before asking his fellow Kage, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Of course."

"Tell Sakura and Naruto….thank you."

Sarutobi nodded causing a small smile to appear on the boy's face before he disappeared into sand. After several minutes and when he was sure he was alone Sarutobi blew out a heavy breath before saying to himself, "I'm getting too old for this."

* * *

Kakashi landed in one of the training fields following the directions the messenger toad had given him after checking on Sakura in the hospital. He was concerned for Naruto as although his student had been there he had been off to the side as the hospital staff looked over her and he appeared to be aware of the fact that it was his presence that was making the staff uneasy. Eventually the blonde had left, no doubt figuring out his presence was distracting the hospital staff and Kakashi could almost hear the collective sigh that escaped from the doctors and nurses. Saving reprimanding them for a time when they weren't busy saving lives Kakashi had left the room also only to come face to face with Sakura's parents and Iruka before a toad had told him Jiraiya needed to speak with him.

As he had traveled across the village he had let his mind wander from his concern for Naruto to his worry about Sasuke. While his student had appeared shortly after Naruto's Kyuubi outbreak, Sasuke had been more concerned about challenging the owner of the chakra then Sakura's condition. On top of that he had stayed at the hospital only long enough to make sure Sakura was alright before leaving. No doubt to begin training in the use of the Sharingan. The lack of overall concern for anything unrelated to his ambition worried Kakashi.

Spotting Jiraiya amid the destroyed training field, he wondered why the Sannin wanted to meet him here of all places. But as he got closer, he noticed him staring down at a dead enemy kunoichi. "Anyone you know?" Kakashi asked confused.

"No..." Jiraiya said hesitantly before asking, "What do you see?"

Looking around he said upon noticing the other two corpses, "Three dead enemy combatants."

Jiraiya shook his head looking disappointed with his answer before saying, "Look closer."

Doing as instructed he noticed that although the two boys looked like they had died fighting. The badly burned kunoichi hadn't died from the fire jutsu but of a separate attack by a kunai. Kakashi frowned since due to how injured she had been the girl had been helpless to defend herself. While such things happened in battle it was something that he hoped most Leaf shinobi were above.

Commenting on his observations he said, "The kunoichi was finished off rather cold-bloodedly but considering we were in the middle of an invasion it could have been considered a mercy killing since it'd be a while before she'd get medical attention."

"Possible," Jiraiya said his tone guarded aware that a teacher's first instinct was to side with a student, "But you should know that it was Sasuke that did it." Before Kakashi could defend his student though Jiraiya added, "Also, it appears to me that Orochimaru is interested in him as this is where I found the two of them."

"What are you suggesting?" Kakashi asked feeling a tinge of anger on his student's behalf.

Jiraiya turned away from the dead girl saying, "I think you know."

"Sasuke isn't a traitor."

"Not yet perhaps," Jiraiya agreed, but looking over his shoulder he said, "Although the only witness to what happened here seems to be dead."

"You can't be sure she was alive to see anything, or that Sasuke was the one to finish her," Kakashi responded quickly although he felt his own doubts beginning to eat away at him.

"True, but look at her face." Kakashi did so, and even he had to admit the look of betrayal that was frozen on it appeared at the very least to confirm that Orochimaru was there as she died. Seeing that Kakashi saw what he did, Jiraiya said, "Even if Orochimaru was the one to finish her off. The fact that he did suggests she had something of value to say. Also, considering that as far as I can tell Sasuke awoke his eyes here, suggests to me that at the very least Orochimaru is promising him power. Something I'm sure you are all too aware the boy covets."

Walking past Kakashi the Sannin put his hand on the jounin's shoulder before saying, "Right now as you said he's done nothing wrong. I'm simply pointing this out so your judgment doesn't get clouded and you one day find yourself repeating the same mistake the Third did."

Knowing Kakashi would need some time alone to process the concerns that Jiraiya had raised the Toad Sannin went in search of Naruto to make sure the seal hadn't been damaged. Staring down at the dead kunoichi Kakashi wondered if there was a way to pull his student back from the darkness he seemed hellbent on surrounding himself with.

* * *

Sarutobi entered the village quietly pleased to see that despite suffering great physical damage that what made it precious had suffered very little, that being the people that lived there. As he made his way to the Hokage mansion to receive status reports he became aware of someone discreetly following him. Coming to a stop he said, "I commend you on spotting my entry into the village. But your tailing skills leave something to be desired."

He heard his tail make an, "eep," sound before stepping out from behind some rubble. Recognizing her as the Grass-nin that had fought during the chunin exams he said, "It's alright my dear, the enemy has been forced out of the village. You are safe."

Karin fixed her glasses before saying, "Uhm, I already sensed that. I was actually hoping to speak with you alone for a moment."

Raising an eyebrow Sarutobi asked, "Oh, what about?"

"My defecting to the Leaf," Karin said her tone hopeful.

"May I ask where you got such an idea?"

Frowning since she had expected the Hokage to eagerly jump at the chance she said, "From a Leaf Genin named Naruto Uzumaki. He said such things happen all the time."

Sarutobi ran his hand down his face mumbling about how he should have expected as much. Seeing that the hope in the girl's eyes was dying he said, "While it happens more than I care to admit in terms of the shinobi of Konoha leaving for what they perceive as greener pastures. The truth is Konoha rarely takes in such people from outside villages as I'm afraid it sets a bad example."

"I see," Karin said dejectedly, "I'm sorry for troubling you. I'll go find my sensei."

Watching the girl leave he said, "Wait… why do you hope to make Konoha your home?"

"I don't feel Grass is a place I want to serve." Reaching into her pouch she pulled out some papers saying, "Here, I intended to use these to barter my way into the village. They are financial records that showed my home laundering money to someone for the purpose of buying the services of missing-nin. In light of what happened here I think it may have been to Sound."

Sarutobi took the papers scanning over them and while vague with the hindsight he now possessed could see how the girl came to the conclusion. Eyeing her, he asked, "I don't imagine getting access to these files was easy. How did you manage?"

"I have the ability to sense chakra, so simply made my move when nobody was around the record room," Karin answered a little hope her ability would be enough to change the Hokage's mind.

Sarutobi nodded but said, "Still your timing couldn't be worse…"

"If it's because those files are no longer viable…" Karin said but trailed off as Sarutobi held up his hand.

"It has nothing to do with not understanding what these papers were about until now," Sarutobi said, "But with the event you are using to gain access to Konoha. Do you remember what I said about these exams after you completed the second examination?"

"That they were a way for the villages to conduct friendly wars so to speak."

"Exactly, but they also are used to expose the villages that may be fighting together in the future to each other. While true members of the Alliance had managed to convince shinobi of other members to defect to their villages from time to time. Doing so during the Chunin Exams would be a difficult thing to ignore." As Karin's face fell once more he sighed saying, "Still… if you are willing to return to your village for the time being. I give you my word I'll send a team to help extract you from Grass when I feel enough time has passed."

As Karin's face took on a measure of hope at his words Sarutobi couldn't help smiling at her in much the same grandfatherly way he had many of his young ninja. Karin suddenly lunged forward hugging the kind old man saying, "Thank you," over and over again.

Patting her on the back Sarutobi couldn't help but feel somewhere a kunoichi was cursing his decision.

* * *

Sakura was staring out the hospital window, it had been several days since the invasion and she was beginning to worry about Naruto. While he had visited her multiple times, he never entered through the door. When she had asked why he had laughed saying, "Ninja's don't use doors."

But behind his smile Sakura could tell he was scared of something and what bothered her most was if felt like he was putting a barrier between them. She got a hint of what it may be when one time a knock had sounded at the door. Naruto had been about to bolt but she had clamped her hand down on his wrist, when the nurse who was checking on her entered, Sakura detected the woman's eyes going wide in shock and fear. Naruto used the moment to pull free telling Sakura he'd visit again the next day this time using the door to leave.

The nurse obviously relaxed when he left before saying, "Well let's check on how you're recovering."

But Sakura simply glared at her telling her, "Get out!"

"Now please relax, I just need to…"

"Now," Sakura said calmly and in a way that promised one way or another she would be leaving. The nurse backed up and out of the room before closing the door. Once alone and positive that something had happened after she lost consciousness that had scared the village into pushing Naruto even further away said, "Stupid village."

An hour later Sakura's mood hadn't improved but a knock at the door attracted her attention. Before she could tell the person to go away her mother stepped in smiling brightly which faltered as she noticed her daughter's sour mood. Sitting on the bed she took her daughter's hand asking, "Honey what's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Sakura replied sounding distant.

"Well perhaps you'll be happy to know they plan to discharge you tomorrow," Sakura's mom said noticing her daughter's mood did seem to improve at the news. Positive that she knew why as well, she tried to push the concern she felt at it away, knowing how much her daughter had come to cherish her teammate.

* * *

Misaki Haruno was leaving the hospital after visiting with her daughter. While they had talked a nurse had entered the room to check some of the equipment monitoring Sakura and her daughter had glared at the woman the entire time. Having felt that glare a few times herself before the invasion and most recently whenever she had reacted poorly at the mention of her teammate, Misaki knew one way or the other the woman had insulted Naruto Uzumaki.

Misaki shook her head wondering just when the world had turned upside down as just a few months before Sakura's becoming a shinobi the idea of her daughter being so protective of Naruto would have been unimaginable. Still having arrived at the hospital after being informed her daughter was injured she was beginning to understand why.

"_Where is Sakura Haruno," she shouted running down a hall when a nurse pointed down it not bothering to ask where she needed to go. Her husband did though not that she noticed. As she rushed down it aimlessly she saw Sakura's old teacher Iruka get up from a chair. She noticed that Naruto was there, but as she got closer he disappeared down another hallway._

_Stopping in front of the Chunin and near hysterical she said, "Sakura's alright isn't she?"_

_Iruka nodded before inclining his head to her husband saying, "Itsuki," in greeting._

"_Iruka," her husband said placing a calming hand on his wife's shoulder, "can you tell us what happened?"_

"_Your daughter was poisoned by Sound-nin while defending the shelters…"_

"_Then she wasn't attacked by…"_

"_No," Iruka said cutting her off more harshly then she had ever heard the man sound._

"_Forgive her," Itsuki said, "but feeling that chakra and then hearing Sakura was injured, well I'm sure you can imagine how she could come to that conclusion."_

_Iruka sighed sitting back down in the chairs in front of the room saying, "I'm sorry… it's just as I'm sure you can imagine most people have been acting as if any moment he's going to attack them." Motioning in the direction his former student had gone he added, "It's why he was out here instead of in the room with the rest of his team. But you should know the reason he tapped into its power was because Sakura was injured and it's because of him that we secured the antidote."_

_Misaki had been shocked, but before she could ask for more details the door opened and Sasuke Uchiha had stepped out. Iruka frowned, giving Misaki the impression he hadn't been there very long before the Chunin asked, "Where are you going?"_

"_To train," Sasuke said unemotionally sticking his hands in his pocket. His calm demeanor rubbed Misaki the wrong way._

_However her attention was pulled away from the genin by her daughter's sensei leaving the room. He bowed his head in greeting saying, "Mr. and Mrs. Haruno, the doctors assure me Sakura's going to be fine. If you would like you can go inside but please stay out of their way."_

_Misaki nodded quickly entering the room followed more slowly by her husband but before the door closed she heard Kakashi ask, "Where's Naruto?"_

It was an excellent question the elder Haruno thought as she hadn't seen the boy with her daughter once in the hospital. But she knew he had been there from the way Sakura would act or if he hadn't visited yet from the way she stared out the window. She had wondered why she hadn't seen him at the hospital until she realized that he no doubt didn't want Sakura to see him around other people for fear that their negative reactions to him would ruin his present good standing with her.

Misaki stopped as she spotted the boy in question exiting the ramen stand that her daughter had been frequenting since joining Team Seven. Watching the boy walk away, she flashed back to years ago when she had seen him crying will walking with Sakura. Even then shortly after the event she had not thought of herself very highly. But still the fear she had felt towards what the boy carried made it easy to try and ignore he existed, especially as she remembered the night the Kyuubi had run rampant. Remembering how she had huddle in the civilian shelters holding her seven month old daughter to chest while praying the Fourth Hokage found a way to destroy the monster and protect her daughter.

Yet now as she watched him walk away not crying but from the sadness he was admitting might as well have been. She realized that not only had her prayer been answered, but that it had been in a way in which the Fourth Hokage's solution would continue to protect Sakura through containing the beast and using its power in the defense of Konoha. Having come to that conclusion, she decided to do her part to make sure the boy knew she appreciated all he had done for the village.

Following after him slowly at first, she soon found herself running after him shouting, "Uzumaki…Naruto Uzumaki." Hearing his name he turned and for a moment looked like he was about to take off running. But with a weathered sigh, he seemed resigned to what he probably imagined would be a very unpleasant conversation. Coming to a stop in front of him she took a moment to catch her breath before bowing to him as she said, "I haven't had a chance to thank you." She was aware that some of the people around them were stopping to look at her but ignoring them as she continued, "I've been told the only reason Sakura is expected to be okay was because you captured the man that poisoned her. But also let me thank you as a civilian who you defended through your actions at the shelters."

Raising her head she could see that Naruto appeared unsure at how to respond but then a large smile split his face as he raised his hand behind his head in embarrassment. "You don't have to thank me…I was just doing my duty."

"Forgive me for correcting you," Misaki said straightening, "but I do for far more than your recent actions. I hope I can count on you to continue to look after Sakura."

"Of course, I'd do anything for her."

Misaki smiled before saying, "I'm glad to hear that, Then I can count of you to show up to dinner tomorrow."

"Um… I would love to, but…"

"Please, Sakura is set to leave the hospital tomorrow and I know for a fact she'd love for you to be there."

Naruto nodded still appearing a little nervous but after a little further convincing agreed to come. As he took off running, Misaki was glad to see that he appeared far happier than he had been moments before.

* * *

Sarutobi looked over Ibiki's report of what he had learned from the Sound-nin Kidoumaru. Sadly, despite serving as one of Orochimaru's bodyguards the young man was proving to be less then useful in helping them determine any of Orochimaru's long term plans. Closing the file, he wished that the other three members of the Sound Four as they were identified hadn't managed to escape when everyone's focus had been on Sakura and Naruto.

A knock at his door attracted his attention. The visitor opened it and he smiled as Jiraiya stepped into the room. "You sent for me," his former student asked as he made his way towards his desk.

"Indeed, but first have you had a chance to analyze Naruto's seal?"

"Yeah, as I expected the seal performed exactly as it was designed too. But from what Iruka and Anko reported I believe that the Kyuubi was attempting to use Naruto's anger in order to bypass the seal. At the moment I don't believe there is any danger of that happening."

Sarutobi nodded before saying, "Very well, now for the reason I've asked you here. I believe it's time that we convince Tsunade to return home."

Crossing his arms Jiraiya said, "I don't envy the poor sap you have try to do that. I don't think she has any intention of ever returning."

Sarutobi nodded sadly but said, "Well you'll find out first hand."

"Now hold on a minute…"

"Jiraiya it has to be you. I'm afraid you are the only link she still has to the village."

A little bitterness seeping into his voice Jiraiya said, "A rather weak link don't you think. Besides, she has Shizune."

"True, but Shizune has spent almost more time outside of Konoha then in it."

Jiraiya sighed signaling he was about to give in but curious he asked, "Why the sudden push to bring her back?"

"I'm an old man and it's time for me to pick a successor."

"Come on, I'm sure you still…"

Jiraiya stopped though as Sarutobi held up his hand before saying, "True, I'm not exactly ready for the grave just yet. But I need to have someone in place in case the worse should happen, or else when the time does come certain parties may use it to their advantage."

"Danzou," Jiraiya said his voice and face showing his disgust.

"Yes," Sarutobi replied. "My sources in the Daimyo's court have already heard rumors that some of the Daimyo's advisors who have supported Danzou in the past are already suggesting if he was Hokage the invasion would never have happened."

"No, Konoha would be in a full blown war, probably against all the shinobi nations," Jiraiya said angrily.

"A possibility, but one I hope to avoid, and since you are unwilling to take the mantle and most of our current jounin aren't exactly ready yet, she is the best candidate available."

"Alright," Jiraiya said accepting defeat, "I'll do it, but I want to take Naruto and Sakura with me for the search." Sarutobi arched an eyebrow at the second name so he explained, "It'll do the boy some good to get out of the village for a while and since she's well aware of what he carries. Her being on the mission might cause him to relax enough to reveal it to her."

"And what of Team Seven?"

"You mean Sasuke don't you? To be honest, I want him kept as far away from Naruto as possible. Let Kakashi give him the one on one training he craves so much."

"As you wish, but depending on how long this mission takes I may need to pull them for another mission I have in mind."

"Alright, I'll find them later today to let them know and we'll be on our way the day after."

Sarutobi stood to look out the window saying, "It'll have to be later in the day as I still need to talk to them myself."

* * *

Sakura looked over at her father as he walked home with her carrying the pack that her parents had brought for her during her hospital stay. "I can carry it dad," she said feeling a little self conscious although she couldn't explain why.

"I know, but let me baby my little girl somewhat," he said good-naturedly.

Turning onto the street that led to their home she asked, "Dad, do you think Mom would be alright with me skipping dinner tonight?"

"Any particular reason?"

Sakura sighed but answered, "I'm worried about Naruto. He didn't visit me today and… I'm worried the invasion has…affected him more then he'll let on."

"No doubt because of the way the villagers have been reacting to him lately."

Sakura's head quickly snapped towards her father's face and was surprised to see him smiling at her. "Why the surprised face," he said keeping his amusement in check, "I know I may be a simple village historian. However, I always tried to teach you to be observant. Granted for a time I was worried that your crush on Sasuke was causing you to see the world through rose tinted glasses, but I've noticed how curious your teammate has made you lately."

"So then the K…"

"Careful," her father said quickly cutting her off, "while I'm glad to see you piecing things together. It's forbidden for me to speak to you about it and I'm not really sure I can even if you have learned of the secret surrounding him."

Sakura gaze moved to look in front of her but her father could see that she was really analyzing what he had said. He was glad to see when her face didn't seem surprised that there was a law in affect that disallowed speaking of the truth of the Kyuubi's defeat to any of the children not old enough to remember the night in question. But then her face morphed into one of sadness as she asked, "Is it my fault he's being ostracized more harshly than usual?"

Itsuki considered lying to her but knew she'd probably be able to tell so said, "What happened was a result of your being poisoned." Seeing Sakura was berating herself he quickly added, "However, his being treated as an outcast sadly is the result of the fear people feel at the power he used to defeat those behind it."

"Are you afraid of him?"

"I was… uncertain of him before."

"And now?"

"Well to be honest before I could form an unbiased opinion of him. He went and protected two of my most important people. He saved my life as well through his actions." Reaching the door to their home he opened it saying, "Now how about we go eat. Your mother worked very hard on dinner and it'd be a shame for her efforts to be wasted."

Sakura nodded promising to herself that she would go find Naruto after dinner. Upon entering the house she could smell the meal her mother had prepared and admitted that after eating hospital food for the past several days having her mom's cooking was rather appealing. Making her way to the kitchen she was surprised to see her mother talking to Naruto as they sat around the dinner table.

"Ah, right on time," her mother said getting up to quickly hug her daughter.

"Mom…" Sakura said confused since, she didn't see any of the normal nervousness or hesitance her mother normally displayed when Naruto was mentioned and she had expected to be much worse in his presence.

Misaki smiled, but ignoring her daughters confusion said, "Come on and let's start to eat before dinner gets cold," while escorting Sakura to a seat next to Naruto.

As she sat down Naruto said, "I'm sorry I didn't visit you today. But your mom wanted my coming to dinner to be a surprise and I was afraid I'd let it slip."

Sakura noticed that he didn't seem as bothered as he had while visiting her in the hospital and assumed it was because her mother had been welcoming of him. "That's okay," she replied, "It was a surprise, but a good one."

As they began eating Sakura's father started a light conversation that eventually felt like it put a spotlight on Sakura when her mother asked, "By the way I never got the chance to ask if you enjoyed your… time together at the chunin exams? Well before the invasion at least."

Sakura fought the urge to correct her mother and say date, but since she wasn't sure how thrilled either of her parents were at the idea of her dating anyone, so let it slid. Naruto however didn't pick up the subtle pause in her mother's sentence that had suggested her searching for the right words to describe what Sakura considered her first date as he said, "It was great. Karin's match was a little boring since we couldn't really see anything because of the smoke but the next one made up for it. I can't wait for the next one. I'm sure Kakashi-sensei will nominate us for it. It's only a shame Gaara won' be in it."

"Oh why," Sakura's father said intrigued.

"Well if he's already strong enough to be made Kazekage. I'd have really liked to fight him to see how much stronger I need to become in order to become Hokage."

"Hokage, a rather ambitious goal," her father said, "but being Hokage is more than just being strong."

Naruto nodded before saying, "Yeah… I used to want to be Hokage so everyone would stop ignoring me. But after our mission to Wave and this invasion I think I understand what being Hokage really is. Sure a Hokage has to be strong, but his real strength is in his willingness to put everything on the line for the Village and its people."

Sakura could see her dad was impressed by Naruto's answer giving a small nod of respect. After that the conversation turned to less profound topics and sadly for her more than a few embarrassing stories. When dinner was finished she took Naruto to the roof where they sat looking at the stars. Finally working up the nerve she said, "You seem happier then you were earlier in the week, any particular reason?"

Naruto looked at her and moved a hand to his stomach in a gesture she was beginning to realize meant it was probably Kyuubi related and while she had already known that it was. A part of her hoped he was going to tell her about his burden. However, he pulled his hand away and looking over the village said, "Growing up, I'm sure you know I wasn't very popular. Uhm… something happened recently were I've felt like my standing in the villagers' eyes had dropped. But then your mom invited me to dinner and your parents treated me really nice and you've been really supportive of me and I guess I realized that as long as you think highly of me I don't care what everyone else thinks."

Sakura's eyes went wide as her face flushed at what he said while she slid a bang of her pink hair behind her ear. Leaning in towards him, she licked her suddenly dry lips as she said, "Naruto…" in a tone the blond boy had dreamed of for years. Moving her face closer to his, she wasn't really in control of her actions simply reacting on instinct as a result of Naruto's heartfelt admission to how much he valued her being in his life.

Unfortunately before one of Naruto's dreams of being kissed by his long time crush could be granted the sound of geta landing on the roof followed by, "Ah there you are," caused Sakura to quickly pull away. Jiraiya seeing the sudden pull back as well as the embarrassed looks on both of their faces let a lecherous smile appear on his face as he said teasingly, "Oh ho, what have you two been getting up to?"

He expected a couple of muttered denials but received a hard glare from the pink-haired girl that reminded him so much of Tsunade right before she would pummel him for being a pervert that he almost reconsidered taking her along on the mission he had been given for fear of what she may become should the two meet. "What do you want Pervy Sage?" Sakura said her voice leaving no hint that she would prefer to send Jiraiya across the village with a punch.

Gulping heavily but knowing the reasons he had given the Hokage for bringing Sakura still held true said, "I've been given a mission by the Hokage to locate Tsunade. I asked that the two of you accompany me on it. He agreed, so after you two meet with him tomorrow we'll be leaving the village."

The two youngsters nodded so considering how late it had gotten Sakura stood saying, "I'll see you tomorrow Naruto. Good night." She walked past Jiraiya to enter her window and closed it behind her.

"What about me?" Jiraiya said childishly.

* * *

Naruto made his way towards the Hokage mansion quickly, while not late for his meeting yet, if he dallied too much he probably would be. He was still in a good mood from the previous night but thinking about on the roof and the almost kiss began to feel a little guilty that he hadn't told Sakura about the Kyuubi yet. He knew he was being a coward and underestimating Sakura, but there was a part of him that was afraid that she would reject him upon learning of it. Despite how many times recently that he had told himself that nothing would change, at least in a bad way, there was always some dark part of him that would whisper to him that it would. Still, he knew that she would eventually learn of it and it was important that she did so from him. However, he knew that as he had so often lately would simply but it off until after some other point in time, the current one being after the mission with Pervy Sage. Whether he would tell her or pick some other date upon reaching this one he knew sadly remained to be seen. Upon entering the Hokage's office Naruto was surprised to see that Team Ten was present as well. He was also a little mortified to see he was the last to arrive as even Kakashi was waiting.

* * *

Sarutobi smiled seeing Naruto scramble to stand next to Sakura muttering apologizes. Standing he came from around his desk saying, "Shikamaru, Sakura, and Naruto please come forward." Once the three genin in question stepped away from their teams he continued, "The reason I have asked your teams here and signaled you three out is due to your actions you will receive commendations in your records."

Sarutobi paused to allow his words to sink in to the other genin present. Running his eyes over them he was glad to see both Ino and Chouji appeared to be beaming at their teammate. However, when his gaze landed on Sasuke he felt a frown try to appear on his face. The boy stood there emotionlessly but there was a smoldering anger in his eyes. Filing what he saw away and making a mental note to speak with Kakashi later he picked up where he left off saying, "Shikamaru, despite your relative newness as a ninja, you effortlessly worked well in conjunction with shinobi many years your senior. Furthermore, the way you used tactics to ensnare and set-up enemy shinobi to be quickly eliminated by the jounin and chunin defenders in the arena helped insure the safety of the civilians present." Shikamaru appeared as disinterested as ever at the praise he received, but he began to frown as a sneaking suspicion began to form in the back of his mind.

Sarutobi felt the urge to chuckle but moved on saying, "Sakura, Naruto, the way you each used your strengths to help each other and the people of the village fully demonstrated what makes Konoha so difficult to defeat." Sarutobi smiled as Sakura and Naruto beamed at each other before adding, "In addition to the commendations and due to leadership skills suitable of higher rank Sakura and Shikamaru you will be henceforth promoted to chunin."

Sakura immediately looked to Naruto and although his pleased smile at the praise they had received slipped a little. When he looked at her there was no bitterness in his face or eyes at her good fortune. When she turned to look at the Hokage she noticed he appeared to be watching her closely. Raising her hand she asked, "Permission to speak sir?"

"Granted," the Hokage replied.

"I would like to turn down this promotion please." Sakura could almost feel Naruto surprised gaze snapping back to her as a result of what she said.

"Oh, may I ask why?"

"I have a few reasons but mainly because I don't feel ready for the added duties expected of me. In truth I was happy Kakashi-sensei didn't nominate us for the chunin exams."

Before the Hokage could reply Shikamaru said, "I'd like to turn it down too please."

"Hmmm," the Hokage said eyeing the two genin before settling his gaze on Shikamaru and saying, "I may be willing to accept the request Shikamaru, provided the reason you give me doesn't involve the word troublesome or any of its synonyms." When it became apparent the Shikamaru didn't have such a reason ready he moved his gaze back to Sakura before saying, "I believe I would like to hear these other reasons of yours Sakura before making a final decision. The rest of you are dismissed."

The two teams began filing out of his office with Naruto being last and stopping near the door to look at Sakura. She smiled at him saying, "I'll catch up Naruto. I'll meet you at Ichiraku." Naruto nodded before closing the door behind him.

Sarutobi moved back around his desk and sitting asked, "Is the reason you refused this promotion because Naruto wasn't offered one?"

"No…not really, the reason I gave you is my primary reason. But speaking of Naruto, was the reason he wasn't offered a promotion because of the Kyuubi?"

Sakura wasn't sure what to expect from the Hokage upon her mentioning the Kyuubi. She suspected that Kakashi and maybe Iruka may have informed her of her looking into the mysteries surrounding Naruto recently. But it wasn't for him to look hurt as he asked, "Do you think I would allow him to be denied something he deserved for such a reason?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura said hesitantly. "There have been a few things you've done in regards to him that I don't really understand."

Sarutobi nodded saying, "Thank you for your honesty. To answer your question though. No, the Kyuubi played no part in my decision. My reason for not offering Naruto a promotion to chunin as well was because a chunin needs to be a leader. Although powerful, Naruto didn't display the same leadership skills that both you and Shikamaru did. With that being said, will you reconsider your decision and accept the rank of chunin."

Sakura shook her head saying, "The only thing I really led was clones. I'm not sure I'm ready to lead flesh and blood people just yet and truthfully I think I would like a chance to experience the chunin exams with my team."

"Very well. Now I'm sure you have a few questions you wish to ask of me don't you?"

"I believe I've figured almost everything out. Naruto only recently found out he contained the Kyuubi correct?"

"Indeed, Mizuki told him when he tried to defect using Naruto as his pawn."

Sakura nodded before asking, "And you banned the adults from telling us kids so we wouldn't fear him, but why did you not tell Naruto?"

"Well to be honest the reason that I banned the adults from telling the children also had to do with why I didn't tell him. You see Sakura children are horrible at keeping secrets and it was my wish to shelter Naruto from the burden he was born into for as long as possible."

"Why?"

"I did not want Naruto to think that like so many other jinchuriki that he was created to be a weapon. I assure you the last thing the Fourth Hokage wished was to do such a thing to Naruto. May I ask you something?"

"Yes Lord Hokage."

"You have not shared with Naruto that you know of the Kyuubi, why?"

"He…he hasn't shared it with anyone has he?"

"Not that I am aware of," Sarutobi answered.

Blushing Sakura said, "I want him to trust me enough to tell me himself. Once he does that, I'll tell him I already knew."

"Good," Sarutobi said standing again to look out over the village from his office window.

Figuring she needed to get going Sakura turned for the door but stopped to ask, "Lord Hokage, do you think the village will give Naruto a chance to become Hokage?"

"Yes"

"Why, they ostracized him even though he saved so many people during the invasion?"

"Because I have faith in him and in you."

"Me!" Sakura said surprised.

"Indeed," Sarutobi said chuckling, "My faith in Naruto is that he will never give up and in time the people will respond to his honest desire to protect them by honoring him with the title Hokage. My faith in you is that when his resolve does weaken you will be there to help strengthen it."

Sakura nodded before leaving to meet Naruto. Watching from the window he saw her take off for her home to collect her pack. Opening it he said, "Are you done ease dropping Jiraiya?"

Putting his notepad away his former student said, "I was merely keeping tabs on my apprentice." Standing he began walking away along the roof tiles saying, "We'll be leaving within the hour. I'll keep you updated through the usual means.

* * *

"You would have made a great chunin Sakura," Naruto said earnestly as they began walking away from Konoha.

Sakura smiled since Naruto had been trying to get her to change her mind from the moment she had joined him at Ichiraku after collecting her supplies. "Thanks Naruto, but I'm happy with my decision. Like I told you, I'm not ready for more responsibility." Changing the subject she looked behind her to ask, "So how are we going to find Lady Tsunade?"

"Well it's not going to be easy as she tends to change her appearance at a whim. But due to her habits of drinking and gambling we'll begin by talking to a few loan sharks."

"Really, do you think they'll remember her?" Naruto asked.

"Oh they'll remember her. Most likely because she'll owe them money."

"Why did you ask us along?" Sakura asked skeptically.

"Well, I want Naruto to finish his Rasengan training and I figured that maybe Tsunade could see fit to give you a few pointers about how to properly harness your chakra."

Sakura nodded but was sure that Jiraiya had an ulterior reason for taking Naruto out of the village. One that she was positive involved Sasuke's growing jealousy of Naruto. Pushing the concern she felt away, she decided to concentrate on the mission ahead as well as trying to get Naruto to open up to her while trying to ignore what had happened between her and Shikamaru.

* * *

Shikamaru watched as Naruto and Sakura left the village until they had disappeared below the horizon. Rubbing his arm, he was positive that there were bruises from where the pink-haired girl had grabbed him. After she had left the Hokage's office he decided to test a theory he had been forming since the invasion. That being that the horrible chakra he had felt had not been a result of the Sound-nin that had tried to attack the shelter as was being told to him.

He had been suspicious from the very beginning in part due to Kakashi and Asuma's reaction to the chakra that they had felt during the invasion. If it had been the Sound Four as the attackers had been called then he doubted the two men would have recognized it. Furthermore, considering the state of the one they had captured it made the story even more unbelievable as it had left him with the impression that however powerful Kidoumaru had been, that what thrashed him was the true owner of the chakra.

That had left five suspects, which were Iruka, the proctor Anko, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke. He was able to quickly eliminate Sasuke as even though he had arrived to the shelters before Shikamaru had, it was obvious the Uchiha was interested in locating the person the chakra belonged to himself. Shikamaru also eliminated Iruka and Anko since he had heard that it had been Naruto and Sakura that had helped them hold off the Sound Four. If either of them had such a powerful chakra, he doubted they would need the help of a couple of genin. In truth he had suspected Sakura over Naruto since when he had arrived to the shelters the blond had been crying over the unconscious kunoichi.

But in the few days following the invasion he had been forced to amend his theory. Mainly due to how the villagers had been reacting to Naruto. But also due to Sakura's own reaction to when he had just brought it up to her.

"_Sakura, do you have a second." He asked motioning her into the alley he was waiting in._

"_Well you technically outrank me now," Sakura said teasingly following him deeper into it._

"_I know, if I knew releasing the genjutsu would have put me in such a troublesome situation I'd have simply let it put me to sleep. Anyway, when fighting the Sound Four did you feel a massive evil chakra?"_

_Sakura's eyes went wide before she schooled her features enough to say, "Yeah, they were really strong."_

"_I see," Shikamaru said letting his tone tell her that he didn't believe her, "Well I'll go talk to Naruto about it then." _

_Before he could walk away Sakura grabbed him by the arm saying, "Don't bother him about it."_

_Shikamaru looked over his shoulder at the girl saying, "So the chakra was him then. What is he?"_

_Almost as soon as he said it Sakura's gaze hardened and using a strength he didn't know she possessed she yanked him back smashing him against the side of a building. Her fingers dug into his arm painful and she said sounding extremely displeased, "He's a shinobi of Konoha and if you bother him with this I'll make sure you regret it."_

_Sakura then let go of his arm before taking off for her house. He had decided to ignore her advice and had gone in search of Naruto. However, upon finding him at his favorite restaurant had simply hung back to observe him. When Sakura had joined Naruto minutes later Shikamaru was surprised she made no mention of their run in, as well as how close the two seemed to have become._

Looking up to the sky from his observation point on top of the wall Shikamaru couldn't see any clouds worth watching so decided to look into what exactly the chakra he felt was.


	9. Chapter 9 The Trip

AN: Sorry for the long wait but work is eating up my time to write. I would like to thank those who have reviewed as always. Your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit**

**Chapter 9: The Trip**

"What are we doing here Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked upon setting eyes on the small town inside the crater they were approaching.

"Looking for Tsunade of course," Jiraiya replied looking behind him at the two genin.

Sakura pulled out an atlas she had brought and read the name of the town for Naruto saying, "It's called Shukuba Town." Reading further she looked up at Jiraiya quickly saying, "It's not known for its gambling parlors though." Her voice took on a tone of suspicion as she added, "It is known for its lively brothels however."

Jiraiya cursed bringing the wet blanket along since he believed that without Sakura there Naruto, who was now wearing a look of doubt on his face, would have followed along blissfully unaware of why Jiraiya had picked the town for their first stop. Figuring the truth was called for Jiraiya said sounding serious, "Look you guys. Yes this town is populated with brothels. But they are also dens of information. I go to them to find out what people know…"

"And because you enjoy them," Sakura supplied.

Still sounding serious and before he could stop himself Jiraiya said, "… and because I enjoy them." Trying to recover the seriousness he had been exhibiting he added, "Wait, I mean it's only for the information they contain there."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said walking past his sensei along with Sakura, "We aren't a couple of suckers."

Mumbling under his breath Jiraiya said, "At least one of you isn't," scuttling his plan to separate Naruto from his money having seen the full frog wallet he had brought on the trip. Now following behind the two genin, he smiled as their eyes lit up as fireworks began exploding in the air. Having forgotten about the festival, he said, "Ah excellent, this should make things easier."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked looking behind her.

"Well since the festival is going on it means more people have probably traveled here to attend it. With any luck, we'll pick up a hint of where Tsunade is." Reaching the staircase that led down into the crater and town, he added, "Let's go get a feel of the town. We'll meet here at nightfall to find a place to stay."

Jiraiya tossed his pack to Naruto before he headed down the staircase first and due to his exuberance Naruto asked, "Where are you going?"

"Where children cannot tread," Jiraiya replied almost skipping as he proceeded.

Both Sakura and Naruto looked at each other before sighing not needing to give voice to where he was heading. Naruto put Jiraiya's pack on over his own. Since it was just before lunch the two genin headed to the many food stalls. Sakura smiled as Naruto moved from stall to stall ordering all the different things they were offering.

Naruto and she then made their way to a bench where he began devouring his purchases. Sakura ate what she had purchased savoring it as opposed to Naruto's method. As she ate, she took a moment to enjoy the fact that it seemed Naruto's good cheer had returned. Although a great deal of it had before they left as a result of the dinner at her house. It seemed now that it was just the two of them and that they were away from the cold eyes of the civilians, Naruto had returned to his more carefree self. Yet despite that Sakura felt a little of her good cheer slip away since she believed that the last thing Naruto wanted to talk about was the Kyuubi and therefore wouldn't tell her about it. Still she held onto the hope that eventually he would trust her enough to share his secret with her.

Having finished his food and seeing that Sakura was staring off into space her own food forgotten, Naruto asked, "Are you alright Sakura?"

"Hm…what Naruto?"

"Is everything okay," Naruto asked again concerned since now it appeared something was weighing on her.

Sakura gave a tight smile and said, "Yeah. What do you want to do now?"

Naruto fought down a frown since her smile didn't reach her eyes. But he shrugged it off since he was sure she would tell him what was bothering her when the time came. As he knew that sometimes it was hard to share things with people even if he viewed her as the one of the most important.

Naruto shrugged but standing said, "I'm sure we'll find something." Then grabbing her hand he pulled her along behind him ignoring her weak protests in order to help her forget her troubles during the trip like he wanted to forget his.

* * *

Fun Fun Avenue was living up to its name as far as Jiraiya was concerned. As he sat squeezed between the two buxom women on the small couch he kept his eyes and ears open for any speck of information related to Tsunade. Unfortunately it seemed that due in part to the limited gambling that the town offered it wasn't the type of place she would linger in. Still he had hoped that due to the relatively small number of money lenders the town offered she would be more memorable if she disappeared without paying her debts.

She had been there years previously when she had first left Konoha but Jiraiya had already known that. The reason he knew was that she had hit village hard and lost almost all her lifesavings. She had then begun taking on large amounts of debt before disappearing without paying the loan-sharks back. It had been during Jiraiya's own travels that he had come to this town and while enjoying the establishment he was currently in. He had overheard several of the bigger money-lenders the town had debating hiring a missing-nin to bring Tsunade back to pay her debts. Some of the ways the men had suggested that she would do so had made Jiraiya want to throttle them, but since she was in the wrong due to her welshing on what she owed fought it down. However, he had then approached the table and asked how much she debt she had racked up. Then upon receiving the amount from the lone female lender present threw his money pouch on the table. He had then left with the warning that should he hear any such talk again they'd be lucky to leave with their lives.

_Later that night while thinking of the past he had been approached by the female loan shark. "This seat taken," she asked indicating the stool next to him. Jiraiya took a moment to stare at her finding her to be quite beautiful and rather young for her station in life._

"_You've already received your money," Jiraiya said darkly expecting her to leave._

"_True, but what I'm truly interested in is the story behind why you would give it," the woman said taking the seat regardless. "My name is Ike Reiko." Jiraiya just grunted taking another sip of his sake. "I would like to know why you would pay that woman's debts, especially since it was unlikely that there is a missing-nin of a caliber to bring her back here."_

_Jiraiya stared at the woman out of the corner of his eye as he took another sip of his drink. His respect for the young woman went up several notches since he had doubted that the other loan-sharks had the slightest inkling of who they had lent money too. Commenting Jiraiya said, "You knew her."_

"_Of her, would be a better way of phrasing it. I was one of the first to lend to her, little did I know that Tsunade Senju would take off without settling her bill, or that Jiraiya would appear to pay them."_

"_If you doubted their success then why waste your time planning with your fellow lenders to bring her back?" Jiraiya asked although he already had a good idea._

_Ike confirmed his opinion of her when she said, "How better to gauge what fools ones competitors are? Besides there was a small chance that one of them may have known someone who was capable of bringing her back and best to be there in case as I had lost a considerable amount. Also if I hadn't of been there I'd have missed out on your paying what she owed. So will you tell me, why pay us off?"_

_Jiraiya sighed but said, "Let's just say fools tend to do foolish things."_

"_A fool you say," Ike said a smile gracing her lips as she imagined a phrase involving the words fool and love. Standing she told the bartender to put Jiraiya's bill on her tab before saying, "Have a nice night Lord Jiraiya."_

_Jiraiya paused mid-sip before getting up to follow her. Coming up alongside her, he smiled as she asked, "Not tired of my company yet?"_

"_Not at all, by the way I have a small proposal for you."_

Jiraiya was pulled from his recollections by a small woman walking up to him. Bowing she said, "Lady Reiko is ready for you."

Standing he turned towards the two women who had been entertaining him saying, "Sorry Ladies but business calls." Ignoring the sweet way they called after him. He followed the woman to the third floor of the building. The woman opened a sliding door for him and closed it after he entered while she remained outside the room. Jiraiya smiled at the lone occupant of the room who was as stunning as always, Ike Reiko. She wore a yellow kimono that was opened towards the top exposing her shoulders as well as a decent amount of cleavage.

Ignoring his baser instincts as best he could he knelt across from her saying, "Thank you for seeing me."

"I'm sorry for making you wait," Ike replied although she always tended to, in order for him to spend more money in her establishment.

"Don't be, I was well entertained."

Ike nodded and since the greeting they often exchanged was over with she said, "Now onto business."

Jiraiya sighed saying, "How much does she owe?"

"As per our agreement I've been buying up her debt, and she owes Ten million, seven hundred sixty-two thousand, four hundred twenty eight ryo and thirty seven cents. With the interest incurred we'll call it an even eleven-five."

Jiraiya reached into his pocket to pull out his checkbook. Writing it out for the amount of eleven million five hundred thousand he handed it over. With that out of the way he asked, "Where was she last?"

"The last towns she visited were in the north, but I'm afraid that I can't tell you were she's been since then and that was about two weeks ago."

"Why?"

Ike shrugged saying, "I'm not sure. I believe she's been losing as always but for whatever reason her debtors haven't been angry enough to put the word out on her after she left. Either she's been paying them back, or she's traveling under an alias again."

Jiraiya sighed again guessing he should have known finding Tsunade wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Standing Jiraiya thanked the lady boss making his way for the door. Since the only business this time had to do with Tsunade and not some of the other information she often supplied to him, Ike said, "I see, finally going after her to get your money back."

"Not really," Jiraiya replied, "One of the reasons I've had you collecting her debts was so I could find her quickly when need be. The Hokage has ordered that she return to the village."

Opening the door and stepping out of the room he ignored Ike as she called out after him, "Deny it all you want Jiraiya. But you'd have done this for her regardless, even if you knew she would never set foot in Konoha again."

Closing the door behind him, Jiraiya tried to stamp down on the feelings Ike's words had caused to spring up in him. At times Jiraiya had often wondered if Tsunade had ever questioned why her debtors had never hounded her. Or why some lenders she had gone back to had even lent to her again despite her previous not paying them.

To be truthful he doubted it. For much the same reason he knew why she gambled so much. Granted she had enjoyed it in her youth even with her rotten luck, but it had taken on something far more significant to her in the past decade. While gambling she thought she had a line on death. With every loser pull of a slot machine or atrocious poker hand, Tsunade believed that Death's gaze was focused somewhere else. She didn't know where of course but as long as it wasn't focused on her or the few people remaining she cherished, she didn't care.

It wasn't reasonable especially since every winning streak didn't signify a death, as some of them had also been omens for some of life's changes, such as making chunin or whatnot. But still he knew her fear that death would blindside her again was what kept her in the casinos.

Looking around, Jiraiya for a change didn't feel like indulging in his own eccentricities so decided to head to the meeting spot early. Arriving he was surprised to see the two genin waiting as well, although it was easy to see from the damaged trees nearby that they were probably taking a break from training. Since the trees bore the spiral pattern of an unfinished Rasengan. He was surprised since he would have expected the boy to make the most of the time with his crush.

Sakura surprised him by saying, "I'm glad we decided to get some training in."

Naruto sat up saying, "Yeah, the festival was nice and all but this is still a training trip and mission. Now if only Pervy Sage would take it seriously."

Sakura giggled but nonetheless said, "I'm sure he managed to accomplish something of value."

Making his appearance he said, "Indeed, I have."

"You found her then," Naruto said excitedly.

"Well no, but…"

"You know where she is going," Sakura supplied.

"Not exactly, but…"

"Then what do you know?" both genin asked at the same time.

"I'm getting to that, if you'd let me get a word in," Jiraiya said annoyed. "I know a couple of spots she visited a few months ago," he followed up with lamely some of the wind having been sucked from his sails. Especially as a result of the twin looks of disappointment he received from the pair. Trying to salvage his reputation he said, "Look I know it's not much, but it's a start. When gathering information every little bit helps."

He could see Sakura understood from her own efforts to learn about Naruto. His apprentice though, not so much, which was made evident when he asked, "What good does knowing the places she visited months ago do us?"

Before he could explain Sakura took it upon herself to say, "Well it does quite a bit actually. If he managed to learn what towns she visited and the order she did it in. We can learn in which direction she is heading."

Jiraiya was about to agree with her, but apparently since Sakura had been the one to say it Naruto didn't need to hear his thoughts on the matter saying, "Really, you're so smart Sakura."

Jiraiya chuckled as the girl blushed at the compliment before thanking Naruto. Clearing his throat the Toad Sage got their attention before saying, "Well with the information I've received I think it'll be worth a visit to Tanzaku Town. We have a few hours left till nightfall so how about we do a little training?"

Both genin got back to their feet waiting to see what Jiraiya had in mind. Telling them that they'd be sparring against him, and just before starting Jiraiya let his mind wander to the one thing he was truly envious of. Which was, unlike him, the girl of his apprentice's dreams seemed to be within his reach.

* * *

It wasn't often that Shikamaru felt motivated to do anything. But for some reason the mystery surrounding Naruto had captured his full attention. He supposed it was because he had a hard time imagining the boy that he sometimes shared detention with as the source of the foul chakra that had engulfed the village during the invasion. It was almost immediately during his investigation that he came to the conclusion that anyone over the age of twenty was going to be worthless to him in answering his questions.

Primarily since his own sensei, someone he knew and trusted seemed less than forthcoming with the answers to the few probing questions he had asked. That told him at the very least the Hokage didn't see Naruto as a danger to the village. But it didn't answer the question of what was with all the secrecy surrounding him.

Still despite his curiosity, work was still his bane so he wanted to go about finding out in the laziest way possible. He was tempted to ask Kakashi but figured he'd get the runaround like Asuma gave him. It was obvious Sasuke had no idea and to be honest he didn't want to ask the Uchiha anyway. In part to his having never really liked the boy. He would see if he noticed anything strange about Naruto if necessary, but that would be a last resort.

That left Sakura who obviously did know, but wasn't telling. Not to mention she was currently out of the village and would probably throttle him if she learned he hadn't let the matter drop. With no real avenues to learning what it was that had made Naruto admit such evil chakra, he turned his attention to another possible way of learning the secret. Which was what had made Sakura suddenly change her opinion about Naruto?

For that he turned to a constant source of gossip, which had been conveniently placed on his own team, Ino. Entering her family's flowershop he heard the girl begin to say almost automatically, "Hello welcome to... Shikamaru! What are you doing here? Do we have a mission?"

"Way to make a guy feel welcome, Ino," Shikamaru said.

"Sorry, it's just this is the last place you usually come on our days off."

Shikamaru nodded forced to concede the point but moving on said, "Well there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Okay shoot," Ino said coming around the counter of her family's shop.

"Well lately Sakura's been acting kind of strange around Naruto. I was just wondering if she's leading him on to get Sasuke to notice her."

Shikamaru was surprised when Ino's eyes hardened at him. But she calmed a moment later saying, "I can't fault you for thinking that. I guess over the years we've tried some stupid stunts to get Sasuke to notice us."

She giggled at the face he made since he doubted he kept his surprise from his face this time. Hearing Ino talk so candidly about her chasing after Sasuke like it was a thing of the past was rather shocking. Although he had to admit that lately she had been taking training more seriously. Ino regained his attention as she said, "However Sakura is over Sasuke so I'd imagine she generally cares about Naruto. Why?"

"Excuse me," Shikamaru said caught a little off guard.

"Why do you care? It wasn't like you were particularly close to Naruto. I'm curious as to why you are taking it upon yourself to find out if Sakura is leading him on."

Shikamaru supposed he was acting a little out of character but said, "Well I guess I feel that even Naruto wouldn't deserve to have his heart stepped on like that. I mean it's pretty obvious what he thinks of her. Her sudden about face on her opinion of him is rather suspicious."

"Maybe it would have been during the academy," Ino conceded. Thinking of the night she had first seen Sakura acting different towards Naruto she added, "But trust me, what she is feeling towards him now is genuine."

"What do you mean?"

"Well honestly I think Sakura originally chose to pursue Sasuke to fit in with everyone else. While I know why she stopped chasing him, I don't know what has caused her to shift her affections to Naruto." Shrugging she put her own theory forward saying, "Maybe he makes her feel its okay to be herself?"

Shikamaru scoffed at the pearl of female wisdom saying, "Who else would she be?"

"Hey, you don't know the pressure we girls are under to fit into what society and boys think of as normal. Why else do you think we put ourselves through such things as diets?"

Rolling his eyes and making his way for the door not wanting to get caught up in such a conversation, Shikamaru replied, "Can't say I've thought about it or care. Guess I was just being paranoid about how sneaky you girls can be."

"Hey," Ino shouted but before she could really start up the door closed behind him. Sticking his hands in his pocket Shikamaru guessed he should have known Ino being aware of Naruto's secret on any level was a longshot. In part to how closely Sakura was guarding it. Deciding on a little cloud watching to help him think of his next move, he wondered just how Sakura had gone about learning it.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto were sitting around a fire as they waited for Jiraiya to make his return having been lured away by the sounds of women laughing. After staying the night in Shukuba Town, under the arrangement that she and Naruto share a room, they had left early the next morning for Tanzaku Town. Sakura spared a moment to remember the fuss she had raised upon learning of the sleeping arrangements for the night.

_When Jiraiya had asked if she preferred to spend the night in his room she had answered, "Why can't you and Naruto share?"_

_The pervert had replied, "Sleeping in the same room as a guy when there are ladies around would cramp my style. But if you want a room of your own then feel free to buy it." With that Jiraiya had headed upstairs leaving an irate Sakura behind._

_She had calmed immediately when she heard Naruto ask the receptionist if there was another room for him. Before Sakura could say she was fine with sharing the woman had said that due to the festival all the other rooms were taken. Naruto had looked at her sadly saying he'd talk to Jiraiya, but she had said not to bother. Still as they traveled to the room she had kicked herself for her big mouth. How was she supposed to convince Naruto that she wanted to learn more about him when she freaked out about being alone with him?_

Now on their third night of sleeping outside Sakura still felt bad about her behavior. But she also took it as a sign she was maturing as before if the situation had been her and Sasuke. She didn't doubt that she'd have been falling all over herself to let the Uchiha know just how pleased she was to be sharing a room with him.

The night had been without incident and by morning Naruto had given her no sign her outburst had hurt her standing with him. Still she wanted to explain it wasn't him but her own changing feelings for him that had caused it. Yet sadly she couldn't think of a way to phrase what she wanted to get across. Still at an impasse in that regard she decided on a different course of action to get close to him, more training. Reaching into her bag she pulled out a book and moved to sit next to Naruto.

Seeing the book Naruto said, "Um, to be truthful I was sort of hoping being on this mission would put an end to these tutoring sessions."

Worried her blow up about the sleeping arrangements were the cause for Naruto's not wanting to study with her, she said, "I thought you enjoyed our study dates."

Hearing Sakura refer to the time studying together as dates made Naruto do a double take, blushing at the idea he said, "I enjoy them because it is time spent with you. But honestly I'm just not seeing why it's important. Sure the kunai trick I learned because of those physics lessons was cool. But, what good is knowing who started this or that in the past, right now?"

Sakura shook her head sighing at the idea that Naruto didn't consider studying to be important. But moving past that, she said, "History is important Naruto." Holding the book up she said, "However this isn't a history book."

Again looking at it he said, "Then why does it say history on it?"

Looking at the title which read, "History of Battle Tactics," with the word History being the biggest and the rest of the title in smaller print beneath it she laughed. Mainly since she figured Naruto had stopped reading as soon as he saw the word. Calming she said, "Well if you had bothered to read the whole title you'd realize this book is on battle tactics."

Flipping it open to a random page it showed a diagram of a flanking maneuver used by shinobi teams. Naruto leaned in closer to take a look and asked, "But right now we aren't with the rest of Team Seven. Why do we need to go over this?"

"Because Naruto, one of the reasons you weren't offered a promotion, was due to your not taking the lead."

"How do you know?"

Blushing she said, "Um, because I asked the Hokage when we talked."

Naruto stared at her for what seemed like several minutes but in actuality was probably only seconds. Looking away with his face taking on one of concern he asked, "You didn't turn down the promotion because of me did you?"

Reaching her hand up she gingerly forced him to meet her gaze. Almost getting lost in his blue eyes, she pulled it together in order to say, "I already told you the reason. But I suppose a small part of me did turn it down so that I could experience the Chunin Exams with you and Sasuke." Sakura fought down a smile as Naruto frowned at hearing Sasuke's name so added, "But truthfully you more than him." The way Naruto's face lit up filled Sakura with a warmth she couldn't explain. Yet getting back to the reason she had brought the book she said, "That's why I asked the Hokage. So we could find out how to get ready for them. He said Chunin need to show leadership skills and that's why we're going to study this book cover to cover."

"Is that book really going to teach me leadership skills?"

"Yep. Naruto, you have the amazing ability to create more shadow clones then anyone in the village probably. If you began employing squad to battalion level tactics with them instead of just charging forward in mass, you could be literally a one man army." Flipping to a page that showed a line of dots holding off another line she said, "When we helped that pinned down Chunin who was escorting my parents to the shelter I had you create a wall of clones between the civilians and Sound-nin. This is the basis for that formation it's called the phalanx. It's generally used by heavy infantry and not particularly suited for shinobi, but with your clones it was quite effective in absorbing the brunt of the enemy attack. Add to that the fact that you can create clones with a strategy already in place thereby eliminating the need to give voice to your orders and you'll be a shoe in for making chunin next time around."

Sakura could see Naruto had come around to her idea so flipping to one of the smaller battle formations the book contained described it saying, "This is the Button-Hook technique. It's used by small squads to enter buildings or other structures quickly in order to take the enemy by surprise."

* * *

Naruto tried to enjoy the sites that Tanzaku had to offer, especially since it was apparent that Sakura was so taken by them. Currently they were on a tour of Tanzaku Castle which his teammate claimed had served a valuable purpose at sometime in the past. He admitted that he'd probably be more interested in learning about the battles that had been fought there if not for the fact his mind was elsewhere. Namely on the disgust he was feeling towards himself.

It had only been growing larger due to the way Sakura kept helping him. She was probably unaware as to how much her being there for him had made his life better and his past loneliness more bearable. But it also left him feeling dismayed that despite how close they had become he had yet to share his secret with her.

He kept asking himself how he could claim to love her if he couldn't tell her he was the container of the Kyuubi. And he knew that he did indeed love her. As whatever childish crush he had once possessed for her during the academy had solidified into love on the bench where he had pretended to be Sasuke. Or at least he had understood on some level what it was about her that made his heart speed up when she smiled at him.

He also believed there wasn't anything he wouldn't due for her. That if she still loved Sasuke, he would do everything in his power to make sure the bastard knew how lucky he was to have Sakura's affections. Still he was glad that didn't seem to be in the cards, but it just raised the question if he was willing to go that far for her. Then why couldn't he tell her what was probably the most important fact she would need to know about him.

On some level he believed he knew the answer which laid in the very smile she now graced him with. It was that she would stop smiling or spending time with him. That he'd be pushed away as he had by the village for so long. He knew it was unfair to Sakura to believe such about her. Yet still he couldn't shake the fear.

His introspection was put on hold by the girl he was thinking about saying, "Hey," sounding rather worried.

"Sorry did you say something," Naruto asked focusing on her questioning gaze.

"What's the matter? The tour's moving on but you've been staring off into space."

"It's nothing," he replied moving to follow the mass of people.

Sakura didn't buy it but moved along next to him saying, "Really Naruto you can tell me."

"_I can't that's the problem_," he thought disappointed in himself. But aloud said, "I…It's nothing. I was just thinking about a few personal matters."

Naruto looked towards Sakura giving a weak smile that disappeared upon the frown he was receiving. Realizing he and his secret were the cause of it, he almost blurted it out. But stopped upon hearing the part of him that often spoke up when the matter of telling Sakura about the Kyuubi came up say, "_She'll abandon you_." Biting his tongue he focused on the tour guide while trying to ignore the hurt glances she kept sending his way.

* * *

Jiraiya leaned against the wall waiting for the tour to let out. He had looked into Tsunade's current whereabouts by asking a few of the money lenders the town had to offer. He learned why Reiko had been unable to buy up his former Teammates debts lately and it was because there weren't any. Reiko had also been wrong about why there weren't any debts as Tsunade hadn't just been winning but hitting it big.

_He had heard the story from a couple of Cho-Han dice dealers while the two were talking about how they were cleaned out. The younger looking of the two had said after receiving his drink, "I thought you said she was the Legendary Sucker."_

"_Hey don't look at me," the man's partner said angrily, "I just told you what I heard. It looked to be true for a while too, didn't it? I mean she couldn't guess a single hand right till she was down to her last fifty ryo."_

"_Yeah, to think she'd then guess the next one hundred in a row. Shit our boss is going to skin us alive when he hears about this."_

"_No shit, why do you think we've left town. We'll give him some time to cool down."_

_Jiraiya took the opportunity to slide up to the two men at the bar saying, "I couldn't help but overhear your poor luck. Bartender put these two gentlemen's tabs on mine."_

"_Thanks," the younger of the two said before asking, "Now why would you do that?"_

_Placing an arm over the man Jiraiya said, "Well I was hoping you could tell me more…"_

The two men had been more the helpful especially after getting a few drinks in them. Still it presented him with a major problem because if he knew Tsunade then a winning streak meant one thing. She was going to start running. She'd still hit the major gambling towns but she wouldn't stay put and more than likely she'd stop hitting her favorites. Since a majority of those were in the Land of Fire that meant she may even begin moving into other elemental countries.

Looking up at the setting sun he figured they'd spend one more night in Tanzaku Town before heading south. It was a long shot but if Tsunade was trying to outrun her sudden good fortune then it was likely she'd head in that direction. His reasoning was that she'd still want to gamble to know when her luck had changed back and Tea Country was known for its gambling. Plus she was on friendly terms with one of the bosses that ran Degrashi port. Confident in his reasoning he'd nonetheless keep his ear to the ground in case he was wrong. But tracking was ninety-nine percent research, and one percent trusting ones gut. Yet sometimes that one percent counted the most.

Watching a group of tourist leaving the castle he caught sight of the two genin and immediately noticed the dark cloud hanging over Naruto. He also noticed that Sakura kept sending him glances that ranged from worried to appearing a little hurt. Sighing at his knuckleheaded apprentice's lack of advancement in his relationship with Sakura, he pushed off the wall closing with the two.

"Hey how was the tour," he asked sounding nonchalant.

Neither genin responded with anything more than a noncommittal grunt. "Aw come on, it couldn't have been that bad," he said trying to lighten the mood. Sadly he saw it wasn't working so turning to business said, "I've learned that Tsunade's been hitting it big lately so we'll be leaving in the morning."

"So you know where she is?" Sakura asked glad for the change of topic.

"No, but with her cleaning out gambling houses she should be easy to find. The problem is now she'll be moving a lot faster."

"Why," Naruto asked confused, "Wouldn't it be best to stay put and ride out her good luck?"

"For most gamblers that would be true," Jiraiya said as he began walking to the hotel they would be staying at. "Tsunade though fears winning, so will definitely be on the move."

Sakura was confused by that so asked, "Why gamble if you don't want to win?"

"It's complicated," Jiraiya said evasively, "Let's just say she uses her losing as a gauge and leave it at that."

Sakura frowned but began wondering how a gambler could live on losing. Directing her gaze to Jiraiya's back she began to wonder just how he had gotten them on Tsunade's trail so quickly. "_Is he supporting her in some way_?" she asked herself. She supposed it was possible especially since his perverted books were way more prevalent then she first thought having seen quite a few bookstores with signs saying the latest one was still sold out.

She put her thoughts on hold as they began to enter the hotel they were staying at. Almost immediately upon entering Naruto said, "Hey Pervy Sage maybe I should bunk with you."

"What, we already went over this. Why would I want a brat like you around to cramp my style?"

"What style?" Naruto shot back.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Jiraiya replied.

Sakura sighed at the antics of the two as they were attracting the attention of the other guests. She was about to tell Naruto it was fine and that she didn't mind sharing a room with him. But then Jiraiya threw a conspiratorial arm over his apprentice's shoulder. She frowned as the man began to whisper and giggle perversely to his apprentice.

She didn't need to waste much brain power to figure out what he was saying as Naruto suddenly pulled away shouting, "I'm not going to do that. I'm not some pervert."

"Pervert, if you did it right she'd be begging you to do it more you ungrateful brat," Jiraiya replied just as loudly.

A few of the guests began to laugh and Sakura found herself turning red although it wasn't solely from embarrassment. "Stop trying to corrupt him you bastard," she shouted before slamming her fist into Jiraiya's surprised face causing him to smash into a wall. Everyone stopped what they were doing as an unnatural silence fell over the lobby. Due to the patrons being afraid of catching the irate pink-haired girl's attention for fear she'd unleash the power they had just witnessed on them. Naruto also remained still all too aware of how much power her punches packed when she was in such a mood. It didn't stop her from noticing him though as she grabbed him by the wrist saying, "Come on Naruto. I can't let you stay around such an unscrupulous person. Who knows what he'll try to turn you into."

Jiraiya seeing stars asked himself, "Why did I bring her along again?"

* * *

Sasuke was training in the dojo of his family home. He remembered the countless times he'd watch Itachi practice many of the same kata he was now working through. Although he normally did so to sharpen his skills for his destined battle, tonight it also was to work through the frustrations he felt at Kakashi's teachings. Now that his teammates weren't around, he had expected Kakashi to step things up since they weren't there to hold him back anymore with the teamwork angle the jounin usually preached. Instead Kakashi seemed to be holding himself back even more instead.

Granted Sasuke was seeing improvements in his taijutsu since that was what they were focusing on. However, that wasn't what interested him at the moment. No that was jutsu powerful enough to destroy his brother. Yet despite unlocking his Sharingan and having a teacher who had used his stolen eye to become famous as the copy-ninja, Sasuke had not been taught anything more powerful than a C-ranked jutsu.

Forcing himself to concentrate on the present in order to sharpen his kata's it was then that he noticed he was not alone. Activating his Sharingan, he suddenly charged towards the man hiding in the shadows. He attacked furiously but his opponent easily kept avoiding the attacks until he lashed out with a kick. The kick caught him in the chest sending him towards the center of the dojo floor where he landed roughly on his back. Flipping back to his feet he was about to charge again till his uninvited guest stepped into the light.

"You," Sasuke said recognizing the young man as the spy Orochimaru had used to contact him with. Directing his gaze to the Leaf Headband he wore, Sasuke said, "I'm sure there are people who would love to know who it is you truly serve."

"I'm sure you'd be quite right," Kabuto said with an unconcerned shrug. "But they might also be interested in knowing why you went to the training fields while the village was being attacked."

"So you intend to blackmail me," Sasuke said with a sneer although a part of him was panicked as well. He believed a part of the reason Kakashi wasn't training him to the level Sasuke wanted may have been because of Jiraiya catching him and Orochimaru together. If the spy in front of him were to get caught it could make Sasuke's life very difficult.

The man must have sensed his thoughts as he said, "Killing me won't be necessary. Lord Orochimaru believes in time you'll realize only he can offer you what you want."

"Then why are you here?"

"To tell you my name is Kabuto Yakushi and that when you begin to question just why it is that your teammates aren't present to come find me." With that said Kabuto slinked back into the shadows before disappearing completely.

Sasuke scoffed but then frowned wondering if perhaps his teammates were in the process of receiving better training then him.

* * *

Sakura sat up quickly suppressing a moan as she did so. Looking to her left she could see her roommate was still snoring contently but had kicked his covers off in the constant rolling around he did. Rubbing her forehead she cursed Jiraiya positive that the erotic dream she had experienced was his fault for putting such thoughts in her head.

The dream had started off nicely showing the older Naruto and her that she had pictured when she had compared the two types of relationships she could have with her teammates during the Wave mission. It had quickly become apparent that the older versions of Naruto and her had been dating for a while just from the familiarity the two of them shared. She found it to be quite charming as they had shared a bowl at Ichiraku and that Naruto had actually restrained himself to one bowl. He had then walked with her to what she had assumed to be her apartment. She was surprised when Naruto had used a key to open the door for her. But she guessed that maybe she had given him one.

However that was when the simple but good date had taken a page from one of Jiraiya's novels. It also surprised her that the older her was the one that had initiated things. Naruto had just pushed the door open and was turning to smile at her when she had lunged forward slamming her lips into his. The force of her movement had pushed him into the apartment where with her foot she kicked the door behind her closed. By then Naruto had begun to respond to her affections and for young Sakura what followed was nothing like the often romantic images she imagined when she thought of such things. Instead what she had saw could only be described as a hormone fueled romp that had left the two older versions of her and Naruto satisfied. From the dream she believed her mind was trying to get her to realize two things. One was that if Naruto went about mastering his bedroom skills with the same determination he did to all his other training the woman he did end up with would be very lucky. The second was that she was probably a closet pervert.

She was about to lay back down when she was struck with an uncomfortable feeling. Sighing since due to her dream her undergarments were rather damp she decided before going back to sleep it would be best if she cleaned up a little. Getting out of her futon she proceeded to the bathroom in order to take a quick shower.

* * *

Naruto was near a waterfall as he could hear the water running down the rocks. He wondered how he got there as he was pretty sure just a few moments before he was in a life or death battle against some faceless enemy bent on world domination. However the burnt out town the fight had been taking place in suddenly disappeared to be replaced by a more jungle like environment. Moving towards the sound of the running water he wondered what it was he would find once he got there. A part of him hoped it would be of Sakura swimming, or perhaps bathing. He ran his hands together at the idea, but shook it off since his daydreaming wasn't getting him any closer to the sound of the running water.

Pushing forward into the jungle he smiled pervertedly as he could almost picture the sight that awaited him. However he was disappointed when with a final push of the foliage he saw the waterfall but no sign of Sakura. Yet strangely the waterfall did seem to cause a type of yearning in him and before he knew it he really needed to go to the bathroom. Oddly as he awoke he thought he could still hear the echoes of the falling water but it suddenly cut off so blamed it on still being partially asleep.

Sitting up groggily, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes cursing the waterfall dream for once again waking him to use the bathroom. Getting to his feet, he sleepily made his way to the bathroom, unaware that his path had taken him right through the futon Sakura should have been sleeping in. Pushing the door open he was greeted by the fog he usually associated with a recently completed shower. Had he been more awake he may have put two and two together but as it was all he was only interested in relieving the pressure on his bladder. However that proved to be a mistake as he took a single step into the room just in time to see the stall to the shower slide open. No matter how asleep Naruto may have been coming face to face with his dream girl after completing a shower woke him up in a way no amount of caffeine could ever match.

Although, she was in the process of wrapping a towel around her, thus denying him a glimpse of her in all her glory. The way her skin glistened due to the water and the wet slicked back way her hair clung to her scalp made Naruto forget all about his reason for being there. What was dampening his view though was the way Sakura's eyes were growing wide in surprise as she noticed him there, especially the way they were quickly shifting from surprised to angry.

Seeing the anger that usually resulted in a pounding appearing snapped Naruto out of his stunned opened mouth gaping. Now wide awake and fearing for his life he tried to explain, "Wait Sakura it was an accide…"

Sadly speech as well as conscious thought was stolen from him as Sakura's fist connected with his face while she shouted, "Naruto you pervert." He was propelled backwards from the bathroom rolling almost right back into his futon.

Sakura quickly dressed about to lay into him some more but seeing his unconscious body feared she had overreacted. Checking to make sure he was okay, she breathed a sigh of relief that he was before moving back to her own bed. Laying down she let the adrenaline wear off but before sleep reclaimed her she caught herself wondering if Naruto had liked what he saw.

* * *

Jiraiya awoke refreshed and energetic the next morning enjoying the beautiful day. Awaiting his traveling companions he took a moment to plan out which towns and villages he planned to visit on the way to Tea Country. Although he was positive Tsunade was heading there, if they didn't hear any rumors of her along the way he'd probably need to rethink his theory.

Catching sight of the two he noticed them blushing as they joined him in the dining area. Smiling, he teasingly asked, "Oh Ho, what has you two looking so red faced this morning. I trust you guys didn't do anything in appropriate."

Naruto turned a deeper shade of red, but the look Sakura sent him made the Toad Sage sit back in his chair. Wisely letting the matter drop and wondering when he had become so pathetic that a teenage girl could intimidate him he said, "Eat up, it's going to be a hard pace for us."

Naruto got over his embarrassment enough to ask, "How am I supposed to practice my Rasengan if we are going to be moving so fast. I thought this was supposed to be a training trip."

"It is," Jiraiya said, "But it's also a mission. For now the mission is going to take priority. If Tsunade's trail goes cold or I suspect she's nearby we'll slow down again in order to let you get some training in. In the meantime concentrate on something else that doesn't require as much focus."

Naruto grumbled under his breath but Jiraiya ignored him. Sakura smiled and suggested, "Naruto you could practice moving quickly while keeping your clones in a formation."

Jiraiya aware of Sakura's tutoring said, "That's a good idea. In any case we'll be leaving after breakfast so make sure to have your fill. Now if you'll excuse me I need to settle the bill including all the damages."

Sakura had the decency to blush since she knew he was talking about her outburst in the lobby. As the two ate she could feel a tension between them. Hoping to defuse it she said, "About last night I'm sorry. I overreacted."

Naruto nodded causing a vein to begin to pulse in her forehead but he prevented another walloping by saying, "I'm sorry too. I should have knocked. I guess I'm not used to sharing a room with anyone."

Blushing Sakura asked, "By the way Naruto, um…what did you see last night?"

Naruto panicked wondering if he was perhaps being set up into receiving another punch. But being honest he said, "Nothing really." When Sakura frowned, thinking he was referring to her body's lack of development, he quickly added, "I guess the reason I was staring so hard was because I have never seen you look so stunning before."

With those words the tension Sakura was feeling picked up five fold. However it was broken by Jiraiya as he reentered the dining room and seeing the still full plates of the breakfast he had ordered said, "Hey come on you two. Times a wasting. If you aren't hungry then let's go."

Both genin quickly focused on the task of eating their meal not willing to go without a good breakfast. Eating in record time the trio found itself on the move south in order to catch-up with a wayward gambler.

* * *

Two men traveled a dirt road taking a leisurely pace to the Hidden Leaf Village. However upon reaching a fork in the road the shorter of the two surprised his partner by taking the path leading away from Konoha.

"Hey, I thought we were heading to your home."

"That would be an unwise decision," the shorter man replied stoically. "The Leaf was not as damaged as it could have been and the Hokage survived. If we are caught inside the village we'd find ourselves fighting a war." To himself the man thought, "_And since the Third is still alive that means Danzou and the elders will not move against Sasuke_."

"I don't know are you sure it's not because you have feeling for your old village. We could end up fighting people you once called comrades."

"Do you honestly think one such as I would have any trouble dealing with old colleagues?"

Chuckling, the larger figure with the bandaged weapon strapped to his back said, "No, I suppose not. But still, Leader isn't going to be happy we aren't going after the Nine-tails."

"Our target will show itself in time. Of that you can rest assured."


	10. Chapter 10 First Impressions

**An:** Sorry for the long wait. My writing time has been drastically reduced due to work but I keep plugging away where I can. Anyway thanks to all those that take the time to review as always, your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.**

**Chapter 10: First Impressions**

Sakura landed on a branch barely pausing before she leapt again. Staring at Naruto's back, she watched as he scanned ahead for danger. Then looking to her left, she could see another Naruto doing the same in that direction. Moving her gaze forward again, she assumed that the Naruto behind and the one to her right were also scanning the directions they had been assigned. They were currently traveling in an Advanced Manji Formation which was a variation of the one Team Seven had used when protecting Tazuna from Zabuza. The major difference being this version of it was to protect a shinobi who could move along as quickly as those guarding him.

The formation was good for much the same reasons as the normal version although it suffered from a few additional weaknesses. A weakness that Jiraiya exploited as they were all in mid-air, when he appeared from beneath the ground having hidden himself using the headhunter jutsu.

"I've got you," he said as he rose into the air to grab her.

Sakura sighed and knew that once again Jiraiya had managed to get through Naruto's defenses. However, hearing twin shouts of, "Oh, no you don't," caused Sakura to direct her attention upwards. Where two more clones that even she hadn't been aware of dropped to the earth towards the Sannin, but Jiraiya proved why he was worthy of his title when he battered one away in mid-air as well as actually avoiding and using the other to propel himself towards his target even faster.

Snatching Sakura out of the air, Jiraiya landed on a branch holding her around the waist under his arm saying, "Ha, ha, not bad kid but you still are a million years from being able to stop me."

The four Naruto that had been around her glared up towards him from the various branches they had landed on, before three of them disappeared and the one that remained said, "Dammit, best three out of five, Pervy Sage."

Dropping to the ground before letting Sakura go, Jiraiya replied, "Sorry, we're near enough to the village that it'd be a waste of time. If a group traveling in the Advanced Manji got this close to their destination it would force the attackers to confront them head on." Beginning to walk along the road leading to their destination with the two genin following behind Jiraiya asked, "Now, what did you do wrong this time."

"I didn't prepare enough for the weakness of an attack from below," Naruto said, enjoying the formation practice despite his many failures to save the target during the trip.

"Nope," Jiraiya said confusing the blond jinchuriki, "After all you did add those two clones. By the way when did you make them?"

"I just didn't dispel the survivors from my previous failure and hid them till we started," Naruto answered, "But what did I do wrong then?"

"Well for one you are judging your lack of success on your inability to prevent me from reaching Sakura. You have to realize that I am a Sannin and the years of experience alone would make the odds of you actually stopping me laughably small." Jiraiya chuckled as Naruto glowered at him but continued by saying, "Therefore you should be concentrating not on stopping me, but on what you did wrong that would tell an enemy waiting to attack the person you are guarding, now is the moment to strike."

Naruto closed his eyes to concentrate and Sakura who was also confused by the Sannin's words followed his lead. Going over the failures, Sakura was forced to admit that she didn't see what Jiraiya was talking about. Although she knew he wasn't stupid she was still surprised when Naruto suddenly said, "We were all in the air when you attacked."

Surprised, Sakura thought back to all the failures and realized that Naruto was right in that every time Jiraiya had appeared, all of them had been in mid-leap. Beaming at his student, Jiraiya said, "Exactly, by all of you leaping at the same time it allows an attacker a shot at their target without fear of reprisal until everyone lands. Even the clone in back that should have been able to stop me was in the air and therefore unable to come to Sakura's aid. To counter this you should be staggering your leaps so that at least two clones are on a branch when everyone else is in the air."

"But that opens up gaps in our defense," Naruto said, "I thought the goal of this training was to get in synch with my clones."

Jiraiya nodded saying, "True, however the ability to respond to threats more than makes up for the temporary holes that open. Plus, I think you'll find it is a lot harder to stagger your clones then to travel with them at the relatively same pace. If Tsunade's not in this village, you'll see what I mean as we move on to Tea Country."

"What makes you think she'll be stopping at this village?" Sakura asked as she consulted her atlas. "It's not really known for much of anything."

"True," Jiraiya admitted, "Or perhaps it isn't just yet. Last time I was in the area they were just beginning construction on a mega-casino. The village was hoping to cash in on some of the many wealthy travelers that move between Tea and Fire Country. Since Tsunade has broken from her normal pattern it's just the type of place she would visit. Now, get into the normal Manji."

Naruto responded by creating three clones and then moved to surround Sakura but Jiraiya stopped him saying, "Hey, I didn't say to protect her. I'm the important traveler here."

"But you're the great and powerful Sannin. Why do you need a genin's protection?" Naruto asked his tone making Sakura smile as it told her the boy was holding a grudge about Jiraiya's comments on his ability to stop the Toad Sage.

"That's very true," Jiraiya said sounding smug, "And I don't. But when we hit the town I want to appear to be just another rich traveler with some shinobi protection."

Naruto nodded so he and his clones moved to surround the Sannin. Sakura felt a little left out so moved to walk near Jiraiya but was surprised when the man asked quietly, "Hey, what are you doing?" Sakura looked up at him confused so he elaborated saying, "His clones aren't the only thing he should practice getting in synch with."

Catching the hint, Sakura nodded moving to one of the clones and told it to dispel itself so that she could fill its spot in the formation. Jiraiya smiled as the girl smoothly fell in step with her teammate confident that soon he'd be hearing tales of an army of blond shinobi with a pink terror hidden in their midst's.

* * *

Arriving at the town, Jiraiya couldn't blame the two genin for going slack jawed as he said, "Yup, Tsunade was definitely here." He felt a little tinge of fear at the sight himself as he added, "It appears she still has a frightening temper."

This was due to the casino looking like an eight hundred pound gorilla had gone berserk inside of it. Staring at a roulette table sticking out from the second floor of a building across the street from it, Jiraiya wondered just how far some of the other gaming tables that the many holes suggested had been propelled from the casino had landed.

"I guess this means she's losing again," Naruto said in awe of the destruction.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Jiraiya said looking around for a place where he could learn about what happened. Finding a bar, he began walking towards it after tossing his pack to Naruto calling over his shoulder, "Scout the town a bit and see what you can learn." The two genin nodded so he began heading to the bar figuring that it may be owned by the same man that had built the casino due to the similar theme they shared. Stepping inside, he ran his eyes over the place and spotted a man in a rather expensive suit that seemed to be lamenting his loss and filling himself up with righteous anger. Guessing him to be the one to talk to Jiraiya made his way to the back corner where he sat and without asking permission took a seat in front of him.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asked giving him a glare that told Jiraiya if he wasn't careful he could end up in a shallow grave somewhere.

Guessing the man was a less than honest business man with some gangster ties, he said, "I may be someone who can help you with your problem."

Eyeing Jiraiya wearily the man said, "Yet you didn't answer my question. Get lost; I've already hired someone to deal with the blonde bitch."

Jiraiya kept his anger in check since he was hoping that he could convince the man to hire him so that he'd be able to collect Tsunade and buy the guy off by paying for the damages without it turning into a fight against whatever shinobi the man had hired. "Hey, no need to be rude. I'll deal with your problem in a way in which you won't call down Konoha's wrath upon you and can come out ahead. I'll even do it on the cheap too."

Snapping his fingers the man called forward two of his goons as he said, "Well unless you plan to work for free there ain't nobody cheaper than the Akatsuki."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at the mention of the group and the small amount of killer instinct that it caused to leak from him had the gangster sit back in his booth trying to push himself through a wall to escape. Moving faster than any of the people present could follow; he grabbed the man's first goon and slammed his head into the table breaking it. As the gangster's food and drink flew into the air, Jiraiya stood from the booth and sent a kick into the second goon's chest that sent him flying into another table collapsing it under his weight. Towering over the gangster, Jiraiya said, "I tried to do this the quiet way. Now tell me everything that happened as well as who Akatsuki is sending."

The man nodded his head up and down so rapidly Jiraiya feared it would come off so sitting across from him again and placing his foot on the unconscious goon's head lying where the table used to be, said dangerously, "I'm not hearing anything."

"She rolled into town several days ago like a damn money sucking hurricane. Everything she played was fucking paying out big time. If that kept up she'd ruin me so…"

The man's voice trailed off leaving Jiraiya to guess he was about to admit to doing something illegal so he helped him along saying, "Naturally you couldn't allow that so decided to bump up the house's edge."

"Yeah…anyway we loaded some dice when she moved to the craps table and well she began losing as you can imagine. Hell, I would have been happy to make back a third of what she won. But it almost seemed like losing was calming her down as she blew through all her winnings."

Jiraiya nodded, almost able to picture Tsunade making obscene bets despite it being obvious that things were not going her way. He focused again on the man as he continued, "Well after losing almost everything she moved onto slots next and almost immediately hit it big. In one goddamn pull of a lever she was right back to where she started."

Jiraiya didn't need the man to continue to know what had happened next, but remained silent as the man talked while he imagined Tsunade staring at the winning combination on the machine. He could clearly see her slowly turning back towards the craps table where she had just lost big and her stomping towards it. He didn't know how she got a hold of the dice but figured they were still in play since it would look suspicious if they were removed as soon as she walked away. But he knew she'd use her incredible strength to crack them in her bare hand like walnuts and seeing the weights inside, well he already saw the results of her anger.

The man lapsing into silence pulled Jiraiya's attention to him. Tapping his geta on the goon's head it was resting on he said, "Here's what you are going to do. You're going to call off Akatsuki, because if you don't things are going to get really bad for you."

"I-I…I can't do that."

"Sure you can, it's just a matter of telling them the job's already been handled."

"No, you don't understand…they're already here."

"Shit…" Jiraiya cursed standing and ran out of the bar looking for his apprentice. He was confident Tsunade could handle herself and was more worried that if they heard Naruto was here they'd put off dealing with her in favor of taking him.

* * *

Tsunade Senju had been laying low in a cheap bar having given Shizune the slip so she could pretend to enjoy herself. However that quickly ended as she had noticed the two Konoha-nin walking past. She feared for a moment that the scumbag that had rigged the craps game had sent a message to Konoha, but doubted Sarutobi would send a couple of fresh faced genin after her. Not to mention the casino owner's cheating would also come to light if he went about settling things with her using that route. Still, considering her winning streak, she didn't think their appearance in the village was pure coincidence so followed after them when they moved on.

Henging her features and clothes to blend in with the townspeople going about their business so that she could follow them. Tsunade was left with the impression that the two genin were pretty recent graduates of the academy from the way they took in the sights. For a moment, she remembered how things had been on Team Sarutobi when the three would be Sannin were allowed to explore new towns and villages, at least before becoming jaded by blood and death. She was forced to amend that thought though as Jiraiya had never truly given up his exuberance about learning all he could about new locations or performing his 'research.'

Still watching the blond boy and pink-haired girl filled Tsunade with sadness due to her knowing it wouldn't last. She had just turned away in order to collect Shizune to leave quickly and quietly when a voice cut through the crowd like a knife. "Hello Naruto," the voice said causing Tsunade to spin towards it to see two men dressed in cloaks covered in red-clouds and whose heads were covered in large bamboo hats from which tassels hung, "I think it would be best if you come with us."

Tsunade didn't recognize the speaker's voice except in the sense that the man was a shinobi and probably a highly efficient and deadly one. The young blond shinobi he addressed shot back angrily, "I don't know who you think you are, but the old man always told me to stay away from strangers."

"The brat has quite the mouth on him doesn't he Itachi," the larger of the two cloaked men said reaching for the bandaged covered sword on his back. "Let's see if he's so lippy after I shave his legs from beneath him."

"Just be quick about it," Itachi said turning, "It was mere luck that our target was here. But I doubt he's here without at least his jounin-sensei."

His partner charged the two genin and despite a small part of her wanting to help them, Tsunade turned away telling herself it was no longer a concern of hers. But the sound of a kick landing on something solid followed by the skidding of feet caused her to turn back. She gasped in surprise seeing her teammate Jiraiya glaring at the two men, and guessed from the way the tall man held his bandaged sword that Jiraiya's kick had landed against it causing the man to skid back.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size," Jiraiya said his voice telling Tsunade just how serious he was taking the two men in front of him.

The shorter of the two turned back to face the Sannin saying, "Lord Jiraiya, I see the boy is well protected."

Pulling his bamboo shade off to reveal dark-hair and active Sharingan, he began snapping the top several buttons of his cloak. The young kunoichi gasped saying, "Sasuke…" upon the man's face being revealed.

Ignoring her, Jiraiya said, "Itachi Uchiha, I must say I'm surprised that you'd join a group that is willing to hire itself out to low-rent gangsters. I'd expect more from you."

"Ha-ha," his partner laughed, pulling his own hat away saying, "My Itachi you certainly are hated back home. It makes me nostalgic to visit Kirigakure."

Itachi's eyes watched Jiraiya carefully before saying, "Kisame, we're leaving."

"Damn, here I thought we finally get to have some fun." Faster than anyone but the two Sannin present could follow the two men disappeared rapidly retreating from the town.

Sounding shaken, Naruto asked, "W-who were those guys, Pervy Sage."

"Trouble," Jiraiya replied while thinking, "_Damn, I didn't think Akatsuki would be moving so soon_."

"Why'd you just let them run away then?" Naruto asked still feeling the fear that had welled up in him just from the man's presence.

"Because it was the best case scenario for the situation," Jiraiya said ushering the two genin to follow him. "A battle against a couple shinobi of those two's caliber would have left this town in ruins. Itachi recognized that as well and since Akatsuki seems to want to keep a low profile they retreated."

Seeing that Jiraiya was guiding them to a hotel, Sakura asked, "Shouldn't we move on, if they are so dangerous?

"Can't,"Jiraiya answered, "Tsunade was here and my gut is telling me she's close. That little standoff may have alerted her to our presence." Checking into the hotel, Jiraiya added, "You two settle in for the night. Don't worry. They won't be back as long as I'm around. I have to set up a toad net around the village to prevent Tsunade from slipping out undetected."

As the two genin headed to their room on the first floor and which had an onsen, Jiraiya sighed since he was positive that Tsunade was nearby in the village and the fact that she hadn't showed during the short but tense standoff meant that convincing her to return to Konoha may very well be impossible.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto had remained silent as they made their way to the room. Sakura for the most part still couldn't believe just how much the menacing man had looked like Sasuke although after hearing the name realized it was because they were brothers. Coming face to face with the butcher of the Uchiha, she supposed she could understand why Sasuke always ignored her and the other girls that had pursued him, although she still felt he didn't need to be as cold about it as he had been. But she imagined it was hard to care about such things when you knew a monster like Itachi Uchiha was out there. Guessing him to be the man that Sasuke had talked about needing to kill when Team Seven had talked about their dreams, she believed she now knew why he took Naruto's rapid improvement as a challenge against his own.

Directing her gaze to Naruto, she could tell he was still shaken by the meeting but also guessed why he didn't bounce back and give chase to the two missing-nin was due to her presence. She had little doubt the reason Akatsuki would target Naruto was related to the Kyuubi and even if he didn't realize it fully yet. He did recognize there was a possibility of it coming up.

Hoping to kill some of the tension she could feel she said, "Pretty crazy day, huh?"

Naruto chuckled mirthlessly busying himself with pulling out and folding some of the clothes in his pack. Sakura frowned, since he never bothered to in the past as he often just stuck things in or pulled them out just as haphazardly. Also the way he simply kept his back towards her told Sakura that he was hoping she'd just pretend the whole thing had never happened. Still not willing to let the chance to possibly bring up Naruto's being a jinchuriki slip away. She asked, "Naruto, why would they want to take you with them."

Naruto tensed and he slowly turned to face her. She could see a little fear in his eyes and his mouth opened and closed several times before finally he said, "Gee, Sakura I don't know."

Although on one hand Sakura expected such an answer. On the other, receiving it was like a slap in the face. Therefore she was unable to keep the anger and hurt from her voice as she said, "Really, you can't think of one reason why a pair of S-class missing-nin would come after you."

"Well…uh…maybe they…Where are you going?"

Sakura stopped at the door unable to stand hearing Naruto come up with some lame excuse so said over her shoulder, "What do you care?" Opening it she turned back to see Naruto still trying to think up any reason for Akatsuki's interest in him. Any excuse but the truth, so glaring at him slammed the door shut hard enough to crack the surrounding wall. Making her way out of the hotel, she was unaware that her angry exit was being watched by the woman they had been sent to find.

* * *

Tsunade smiled as the kunoichi left the hotel in a huff. Partly due to her recognizing that it was most likely due to boy troubles and that in such situations sometimes a friendly ear was exactly what a young woman needed. Adjusting her henge so that she appeared much as she did almost some forty years ago she followed behind the young girl.

As they moved through the town Tsunade was convinced that with the presence of Jiraiya it meant that she was the reason behind their appearance in the village. She had almost followed Jiraiya as he left the hotel but doubted she would be able to escape his notice and was confident that at this very moment he was out making sure that if she left the village he'd be alerted to it.

Cursing her decision to stay in the village to see how much trouble it would cause for her after her rampage, she had decided to keep tabs on the genin in order to learn when they had moved on. However as she watched the girl she could see that the anger she felt was fading as a look of worry began to appear on her face. As a result, her pace was slowing and eventually she stopped in order to look back the way she had come. Knowing her window of opportunity to approach her was closing Tsunade slipped around a building to approach her from the side. Just as her target was about to walk back, Tsunade said, "Let me guess, man troubles."

The kunoichi spun quickly her hand reaching for the pouch at her hip causing Tsunade in an exaggerated motion to fall back onto her rear while holding her hands up as she shouted, "I'm sorry don't kill me."

The kunoichi kept her hand in her pouch as she eyed Tsunade, who appeared dressed as a townsperson and her henge made her appear like she did when she had first joined Team Sarutobi. The kunoichi eyed her several more seconds before she removed her hand from her pouch and offering it to her said, "Sorry, you startled me."

"I could see that," Tsunade said excepting the hand up, "Whoever he is he must have really made you upset."

"Um, what makes you say that," the kunoichi said obviously surprised at Tsunade's accurate guess.

Giving a friendly smile Tsunade said, "Simple, the only thing that can make a young woman storm off in a huff like that, but still make her want to go back is when a boy she likes is acting like an idiot."

"Yeah, but…well I might have overreacted. In any case, I should probably head back. It was nice to meet you."

The kunoichi began to head back to her hotel so as she passed Tsunade placed an arm over her shoulder saying, "You don't want to head back too soon, trust me. Make him sweat a little. At the very least it'll make him think twice about acting like an idiot. Come on, how about we talk about it some."

Sakura bit her lip as she admitted it would be nice to talk to someone about how she was feeling and Jiraiya was definitely not someone she wanted to go too and looking at the blonde haired girl sort of made her think of Ino so she said, "Sure, but only for an hour or so. By the way my name's Sakura."

"Mito," Tsunade said not allowing the victorious smile she felt to appear on her face. "Come on, I know a nice quiet place where just us girls can talk."

* * *

Naruto stared at the door for what seemed like forever and began to lament his not chasing after Sakura. But he knew unless he was willing to tell her about Kyuubi all he'd do is make things worse. Sitting on the bed, he wondered why of all the times for the Kyuubi to become an issue it had to be now. After all, he had lived his life for thirteen years in a, if not blissful ignorance, it had been ignorance all the same and now that he knew about it, people he had never even heard of were crawling out of the woodwork to get a piece of it.

In all honesty, he really didn't understand Sakura's reaction as he had needed to have things that most of his fellow genin already knew such as bloodlines limits explained to him, often by her. So why would she think he knew why two missing-nin were after him. Placing his hand over his stomach, he wondered if she already knew about the Kyuubi, but rejected it almost as quickly. As almost everyone in the village had treated him like dirt because of the creature, surely if Sakura knew there'd be more than just calm acceptance. Unless someone had told her, but since the Third had informed Naruto of his law he couldn't think of anyone willing to break it, outside of Mizuki that was.

For a moment Naruto considered that maybe Mizuki had, as the former teacher no doubt would have considered destroying any chance that he had with Sakura as a bonus. But again it didn't seem to fit since he'd imagine she'd have reacted differently to him during the academy the only time Mizuki could have told her and she had only really began to change towards him after they had joined Team Seven.

Falling back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling Naruto figured he was really starting to over think the matter. As for all he knew he had lied so horrendously that even if she didn't know why he had, she still had known that he had. Naruto knew that left him with two choices, tell her the truth or commit to the lie.

Before he could give the matter much thought the door was thrown open and a worried looking Jiraiya popped in shouting, "Naruto!"

Sitting up in the bed, Naruto asked, "What's wrong Pervy Sage?"

Upon seeing the boy the Toad Sage calmed saying, "Nothing I guess. It's just when I saw the door…" Dropping his head in his hands he asked, "Sakura?"

Sighing sadly, Naruto nodded. Stepping into the room Jiraiya sat next to the boy asking, "What happened?"

"I…I screwed up, I guess. She asked me why those Akatsuki guys would want me to go with them. Even though I wasn't sure, I knew it had to do with the Kyuubi and well…"

Getting the picture Jiraiya said, "You told her you didn't know."

"Yeah…"

Eyeing the door, Jiraiya asked, "I'm taking it that she didn't react to well to it."

"No, and I don't know why. I mean she might have guessed I wasn't being truthful but still, why get so angry?"

Placing his hand around the boy's shoulder Jiraiya asked, "Why do you think she came along, Naruto?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well think about it. I doubt it was for me and my antics. Plus there's no guarantee if we find Tsunade that she'll train her and not to mention that thus far the training has really focused on you. So again, why do you think she's tagged along?"

Jiraiya could see what Naruto wanted the reason to be, but that he was unwilling to give voice to it for fear it wouldn't be true. Able to relate, he let him off the hook saying, "Regardless of the reason, you have to know at the very least she values you as a teammate. Therefore seeing a man that murdered an entire clan as well as a Former Swordsmen of the Mist targeting her teammate means she's going to worry about you and you telling her less than the truth to her question tells her that she probably hasn't gained your trust. Not only that, but that you are actively putting up walls between the two of you."

"But this thing in my gut was the reason I've been alone for so long, Pervy Sage. What if…what if it drives her away too?"

Hearing the fear and pain in his apprentice's voice, Jiraiya almost told him that Sakura already knew. But he held his tongue knowing that telling her was something that Naruto needed to handle. "I know you're scared that will happen. But you need to decide what kind of relationship the two of you will share. If she means as much to you as I think she does then you're going to have to tell her eventually. It'll mean more coming from you as it means you trust her." Naruto didn't look any more at peace with the idea but Jiraiya could see that his words did reach him. Standing Jiraiya said, "Come on. I doubt Itachi and Kisame will be back anytime soon. But who knows what trouble she'll get into on her own."

Following after Jiraiya, Naruto knew that soon he'd have to decide to either trust Sakura with his secret and heart or let her go.

* * *

Tsunade watched Sakura's head loll slightly before shaking it to fight off the drowsiness she was feeling. Having taken Sakura to the bed and breakfast she was staying at confident that Shizune was no doubt looking for her throughout the town and due to her rampage at the casino would at least be keeping a low profile, Tsunade had pulled out a few of bottles from her collection of sake. She had convinced Sakura that they were her mother's and that a few wouldn't be missed.

She got the feeling the girl was rather straight laced, but was prone to folding under peer-pressure so after taking a few sips herself had again offered. To be fair, it had taken more convincing then she thought it would but eventually the girl had given in. Of course what she didn't know was that although the sake she was drinking tasted light and sweet it was probably one of the most potent in her arsenal. As she had slowly gotten the genin drunk by keeping her distracted by using her anger at her teammate, Tsunade had remembered the time that she and Jiraiya had used a similar tactic against a Daimyo in River Country to learn about several bases he had allowed Suna to build in his lands.

However, as she had learned then as she had often needed to force the man to keep his distance while he had tried to grope her in his drunken stupor; it was a tactic that made the target difficult to keep on track.

"And despite me coming all this…(hic)… this way to be with him. (Hic)…He had the audacity to…(hic) lie right to my face." Sakura said waving the sake bottle around as she talked.

"Men, what good are they," Tsunade said feeling annoyed that she had used all her good sake and thus far learned less than nothing about the girl's mission or the boy's secret that he had apparently lied about to upset her, "Now, how about you tell me why you are out here."

Carrying on as if she hadn't heard the question, Sakura said, "Still, I shouldn't be surprised…(hic)…it's not like he has a…(hic) lot of experience with people." Sighing she continued, "I suppose it's my own fault (hic) for ignoring him for so long." Looking at the henged Tsunade, Sakura said seriously as she awoke a little, "You want to know the…(hic) funny thing."

Getting annoyed at her inability to direct the conversation Tsunade said, "Not really."

Again acting as if she didn't hear the woman Sakura carried on saying, "I used to like Sasuke because he was all dark and mysterious…(hic). But when it comes to being mysterious, he doesn't even come close to Naruto. I mean take all the jutsu Jiraiya's taught Naruto so far. They're all closely associated with the Fourth (hic). He tries to play it off that it's because the Fourth totally screwed Naruto over. But, it can't be that simple can it?"

Deciding enough was enough Tsunade said annoyed that the genin drank all her good sake and she had nothing to show for it, "Sure it can be. Now I think it's time for you to go."

Beginning to drag the girl to her feet she was surprised when Sakura pushed her away as her drunken mind began making a connection her sober one had been playing with for months, "They're related! Why else would Jiraiya be so (hic) interested in him? He's teaching Naruto the things his…" Sakura's eyes went wide as she finished her thought "…father never got to." Wobbling as she got to her feet she began walking to the door, "I need to talk to Jiraiya about this (hic). Why wouldn't he tell Naruto it would mean so much to him?"

She made it to the door when it opened knocking her back onto her rear. "Ouch," she said as she rubbed her behind.

Sakura gazed up at a dark haired woman as she stepped into the room looking nervous as she said, "Lady Tsunade, there are some people who wish to talk to you."

* * *

Jiraiya and Naruto spent almost an hour looking for Sakura and the young blond was beginning to get frantic saying, "It's all my fault."

Calming his apprentice, Jiraiya said, "Naruto relax. I told you if Kisame or Itachi returned, I'd be made aware. Besides they won't be in a hurry to tangle with me and know I wouldn't hand you over so taking her as a hostage is pointless. She's probably just blowing off some steam. This may come as a surprise to you, but she has a bit of a temper."

Naruto did relax a little, yet his mind still was coming up with horrible situations Sakura could have found herself in. Mentioning one he began to say, "Still what if she…"

"Relax kid," Jiraiya said cutting him off as he looked up and down the street for some flash of pink. He found it but not in the way he was expecting as he saw a pig wearing pearls and a vest being followed by a dark haired woman as they left a bar. The pig had its nose to the ground and was sniffing as if following a trail. His focus shifted to the woman and although she had aged in the years since he had last seen her. He had no trouble recognizing her as he shouted surprised at stumbling into her, "Shizune!"

Responding to the voice Tsunade's apprentice looked up from the pig quickly and appeared to be attempting to see if the person the voice belonged to was a threat. Her eyes quickly found Jiraiya and just as surprised as he had sounded she said, "Lord Jiraiya."

"Ha-ha, what a lucky break. It's been a long time Shizune; my you've grown into a lovely woman."

"Hey Pervy Sage, we don't have time for you to be hitting on some woman right now. We have to find Sakura."

"Sorry Naruto that's going to have to wait. Shizune here is Tsunade's apprentice and I'm willing to bet she knows where she is."

"Actually I don't," Shizune said sounding nervous obviously wondering why Jiraiya was looking for her master, "She's been avoiding me since an altercation she got into this morning."

"I see. Then I guess you'll just have to take us to the hotel you are staying at. I'm sure she'll show up there eventually."

"Uh, maybe first I should tell her that you are in town and wish to speak with her. You know how she can be."

"Sorry Shizune, I'm afraid that I've been sent on a mission to retrieve and escort her back to Konoha."

Shizune's eyes went wide since it was likely the order to return had come from either the Hokage or the Fire Country Daimyo. In either scenario if Tsunade choose to ignore the order, it would mean she could be branded as a missing-nin. "It isn't related to her debts is it Lord Jiraiya? I've tried to pay a few of them but it seems that some of them have been forgiven."

Not wanting to leave Tsunade's apprentice in the dark, but knowing not knowing may put some pressure on Tsunade he replied, "I'm afraid the reason for the summons is between Tsunade and the Hokage. I'm simply the messenger."

Shizune hung her head as she replied, "I understand," although a part of her was happy for the summons, she was afraid that being branded a missing-nin wouldn't be enough to prevent Tsunade from attempting to ignore it. Turning she waved the two men to follow her to the room she shared with her master.

The trip was made in silence as Naruto wasn't happy the search for Sakura was put off in order to possibly locate Tsunade, while Shizune nervously looked over her shoulder at Jiraiya and the Sanin knew she was possibly contemplating making a run for it. Jiraiya feared it reflected how likely the woman believed it to be Tsunade would return. On the off chance Shizune did bolt and got away. She could later claim Tsunade had never received the summons to return thereby protecting her master from any punishment the Hokage levied down for the disobedience. It could be a death sentence depending on how harsh the Hokage chose to be. Although he knew Sarutobi would never hand one out to the young woman he still felt it prudent to warn her by saying, "I wouldn't if I were you."

Shizune looked back her eyes showing the surprise she felt at his guessing her intentions, but with a sad nod she accepted her chances of escaping were near zero. Coming to that decision, Shizune picked up her pace reaching a small bed and breakfast. Entering the building, Shizune nodded to the old lady that ran the place before proceeding to the room she shared with Tsunade. She paused at the door for a moment and with a heavy sigh, she pushed it open.

Hitting something with the door she was surprised to see a young girl staring up at her woozily. However seeing the headband, she shifted her attention to the other occupant in the room and seeing her master henged as her younger self as well as the empty sake bottles realized what Tsunade had been up too. Keeping the disappointment she felt from her voice she said, "Lady Tsunade, there are some people who wish to talk to you."

She was about to move to help the young kunoichi up figuring she was the one the boy with Jiraiya had been fretting over, when said boy noticing his teammate rushed into the room shouting, "Sakura!"

Sakura who had been staring up at the newcomer with a drunken stare that was asking, "Who are you?" Instantly recognized her teammate's voice, and upon focusing on him forgot about what she had been heading towards the door for as the anger she had been venting to the henged Tsunade came back full force. Narrowing her eyes at him she said, "Oh, it's you."

Naruto paused in his moving towards her at the tone in her voice but as she struggled to stand went to help her up. However as he grabbed her arm to pull her to her feet she jerked it free saying, "I don't need your help." However she proved herself wrong as once free of Naruto's grip she fell back to the floor.

Naruto stood back afraid to anger her further, but Jiraiya said his eyes never leaving Tsunade who watched on dispassionately, "Naruto take Sakura back to the hotel."

"I don't need his…"

"Don't argue with me," Jiraiya said his serious tone surprising both genin, "You're so drunk you can barely stand. If she had been an enemy there's no telling what danger you could have brought onto us and you. Have you forgotten what happened this afternoon? What if they had decided to risk grabbing you in order to lure Naruto out?" Seeing his words register in the girl's eyes he eased up saying, "In any case considered it a lesson in why you should never drop your guard around people you don't know."

Naruto moved in to help Sakura stand and this time she didn't fight him. The two genin left the room as the two Sannin stared each at each other. Jiraiya although he didn't look away said, "She's a little young to be using that old trick on isn't she?"

"Pfft, she'll get a taste for it soon enough," Tsunade replied bitterly. "All it will take is a few of her friends to stop coming home. Now what to you want?"

Straightening a little since it appeared that instead of it being a friend informing another of the Hokage's decree it would be a shinobi informing another he said politely but distantly, "Tsunade Senju, you have been ordered by the Hokage to return to the village to meet with him."

"About what?" she asked a little trepidation creeping into her eyes since the Hokage could want to see her for a number of reasons, her rampage that morning being but the latest.

"I'm not at liberty to say," Jiraiya replied.

Tsunade's eyes hardened angrily as she said, "Who the hell do you think you are talking too? I'm not some damn genin you can intimidate into returning to the village with her tail tucked between her legs. Now what does he want, I know he told you?"

"He did," Jiraiya admitted keeping his cool easily in the face of her rising anger.

"And…?"

"You'll find out when you return."

"That's not going to happen," Tsunade said her tone carrying a hint of finality too it, which caused Shizune to gasp.

"Lady Tsunade…"

"Shut up Shizune," Tsunade snapped at her long-time traveling companion who promptly did as she was told.

Jiraiya eyed the young woman sadly as she obeyed her master before turning his attention to his fellow Sannin and said, "I think what Shizune is trying to say is you are not thinking very clearly on this matter and don't understand the consequences your actions can carry."

Narrowing her eyes, Tsunade said, "I understand them just fine."

Nodding gravely Jiraiya said his tone heavy with grim resolve, "Very well Tsunade, but understand this I'm not here as an old friend or teammate. I'm here fulfilling the orders of the Hokage. I'll give you the night to think about it to make sure. But if you try to leave the village or you stubbornly refuse to return then I'll treat you as any other missing-nin scum who would abandon their village and their duties."

Tsunade gasped looking shocked that Jiraiya would agree to carry out the punishment her refusal would bring about, having been confident another team would have been dispatched. Turning quickly so she wouldn't see the pain such an outcome welled up in him, he moved to the door nodding to Shizune as he left the two women alone. On the other side he paused a moment to close his eyes and prayed that the next day wouldn't see him have to take down the woman he had always cared for.

* * *

Naruto was carrying Sakura on his back much the way he would back in Konoha when she pushed herself too hard. She hadn't exactly been thrilled by the idea but after stumbling several times already she had reluctantly agreed to the arrangement. Naruto sighed as he tried and failed to think of something to say that would erase the blunder he had made in lying to Sakura. Sadly everything he came up with died on his tongue as being insincere, in part to the fact that he still felt the pang of fear she would abandoned him upon learning the truth of what the Fourth Hokage had sealed inside him and so would only end up lying to her.

Sighing again he was surprised when Sakura said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stormed off."

In the safe territory of Sakura's own mess up Naruto said, "It's okay Sakura. Although I was really worried… I understand why."

Sakura's arms tightened around his throat momentarily cutting his oxygen off and for a moment feared he had upset her again. But they relaxed as she buried her face into his back as she despondently said, "I…I just wish that you trusted me."

"I do Sakura," Naruto responded immediately.

"No you don't," she responded just as quickly but in a way that made Naruto think she just heard the words but not him, "How could you after how I treated you during the academy?"

"Sakura…"

"I-I-I just wish I knew if I was making progress with you…," she carried on over him. Which made Naruto guess that due to her relative intoxication, she was venting more to herself then to him and that it was only his presence that was drawing the conversation along its current path. Listening in as she continued by saying, "That I mean enough to you that you will tell me everything."

Naruto stiffened as she said that making him think, "_Does she know_?" However he didn't understand why if she knew about the Kyuubi then why hadn't she ever said anything about it. Guessing that it may be related to Akatsuki wanting him and the lie he told her, caused him to believe that she didn't know of the Kyuubi yet. Still, remembering how she had found his quick healing to be strange, he suspected that Sakura knew there was more to him than meets the eye. Upon coming to that conclusion he realized that in reality he had told her nothing of value about himself.

Deciding it was time to face the music and at least open the door to the possibility of telling her the truth he said, "Sakura…"

But upon receiving no reply looked over his shoulder to see his teammate had lapsed into a drunken sleep. Feeling relief despite what he had just promised himself to do, he quickly squashed it so as not to chicken out on at least bringing the matter up.

* * *

Shizune looked up at the stars feeling torn between her loyalty to her master and her loyalty to her home. Almost as soon as Jiraiya had left Tsunade had turned to the young woman to say, "Pack your things we're leaving." Shizune had done as she was told but then Tsunade had moved to her bed saying, "We'll leave in the morning when the foot traffic is highest. If I know Jiraiya, he has those damn toads watching for us and I doubt we'll be able to slip out tonight. We'll head to Degrashi Port in Tea Country. I'm sure Jirorcho will offer us sanctuary." With that said she had pulled back the covers of her blanket and promptly gone to sleep.

Shizune had been unable to follow suit in part to the fact that she was fretting over her master's decision. In truth she almost could no longer recognize the woman that her uncle had fallen in love with as she had become but a shell of the person she used to be. She knew that if Tsunade went through with her decision in the morning that any chance Tsunade Senju had of reclaiming the woman she had been before leaving Konoha would be lost forever. Unwilling to let that happen she disappeared as she shunshined from the top of the bed and breakfast they were staying at to turn to the one person she hoped could help.

* * *

Sasuke smiled as he listened to the sound of a thousand bird's chirping before charging the dummy in his family's dojo and buried his fist in its chest. Breathing hard, he let his smile slip as he thought about the fact that it had taken three months to finally master the jutsu. The only reason he had learned it in the first place had been because of a mission in which Kakashi and he had encountered a group of bandits with missing-nin support. In the end Kakashi had needed to resort to his Chidori in order to kill the missing-nin. Sasuke had simply had the good fortune to have seen the handsigns while his Sharingan had been active.

Sasuke felt a spike of anger as he remembered seeing the concern in Kakashi's eye when he saw Sasuke's own activated Sharingan. The famous copy ninja had then quickly moved on to mopping up the rest of the bandits and let the matter drop. Sasuke knew better than to ask his sensei to teach him the jutsu having long come to the conclusion the man was holding him back.

Pulling his hand free of the dummy's chest he said to the presence he felt, "You have a nasty habit of hiding in the shadows."

"True," Kabuto said chuckling as he stepped into the fire light of the dojo, "But this time I have your permission to be here and unless my eyes are deceiving me that jutsu is the famous Chidori. I'm surprised Kakashi taught it to you."

"He didn't," Sasuke said angrily.

"Ah, I see the Sharingan is truly a marvelous bloodlines to allow you to infer how to master such a jutsu on your own. However, I'm curious as to what you want, it's been three months since I made my offer."

"Yeah, about that, where is the loser and his girlfriend? Kakashi says they are on a mission to locate someone for the Hokage, but he won't go into the specifics of who is leading it."

Kabuto chuckled saying, "For good reason I imagine. He no doubts fears that you'd become rather jealous if you learned they were currently learning from Jiraiya of the Sannin while searching for Tsunade Senju." Kabuto smirk grew bigger as he saw Sasuke's fist clench at hearing the news of where his teammates had been for the past couple of months.

Finally giving release to his anger Sasuke shouted, "Argghh, damn them. I'm stuck in the damn village learning crap jutsu while they're learning who knows what from a man of Jiraiya's stature. I'm an Avenger god-dammit how am I supposed to kill Itachi if they won't train me."

"Are you now?" Kabuto said pulling Sasuke's angry gaze towards him. He could see that his words confused the boy so clarified saying, "An avenger I mean. As far as Konoha is concerned you are but another shinobi in a long line of them. It doesn't care about your goal to kill your brother. Has Kakashi's teachings not shown you that already?"

"What do you suggest I do then?"

Smiling widely Kabuto said, "Oh I'm sure you already are well aware of what you should do and I can arrange it so that it happens."

Sasuke admitted Kabuto was right so said, "Tell me more."

* * *

"Rasengan," a familiar voice shouted waking Sakura, who shot up in bed. Doing so was a mistake as her head began pounding and a dizzy sensation fell over her.

"Oh my head," she whispered to herself but had to fight back a wince as it sounded like she had been shouting. Trying to think of why her head hurt so much she was assaulted by images that didn't seem to make a lot of sense. One such one was that of a girl that suddenly burst into smoke to reveal the woman they had been searching for. As she slipped from the bed her mouth feeling like cotton balls were stuffed into it and she had a vague sense that she was forgetting something important. Remembering storming off after Naruto had told her he had no idea why Itachi and his partner were after him, she wondered how she got home and had a vague sense of being carried but couldn't really remember.

Hearing another shout of, "Rasengan," as well as a loud explosion that caused her head to pound so bad it made her bones ache, she moved to the sliding door that led to the onseen of their hotel room. Throwing it open, she recoiled from the light as she was about to yell at Naruto despite the further pain it would cause her only to see that the smoke of the explosion was coming from the other side of the fenced off area.

Cursing her noisy teammate, she began to head towards it, but paused upon realizing she was still dressed in the clothes she had worn the previous day. Shaking it off as another part of the missing time she had from the night before. She climbed the fence and made her way to where the smoke was coming from. Easily finding her teammate she came upon a sight she had seen many times in the past few months which was a bunch of trees bearing the marks of being hit with an unfinished Rasengan. However the tree her panting teammate was currently in front of was different in the fact that it had fallen due to having a good portion of its trunk destroyed.

As he turned she could see a small smile gracing his lips and knew he had experienced a break through. However it faded upon seeing he,r instead being replaced with surprise. "Sakura," he shouted causing her head to punish her for being around such noise.

"Shhhh," she said.

"Sorry…Pervy Sage said you'd probably be hurting this morning. Did I wake you?"

"Yeah…um what happened last night?"

Naruto looked away ashamed saying, "What do you remember?"

Thinking which hurt as well she finally said, "Not much after leaving the room. I think I met someone and after that everything's kind of a blur."

Naruto nodded saying, "Yeah, well you met Tsunade who henged herself to look younger in order to get you drunk and…"

Sakura listened on in mortification as she learned that she had been tricked into getting hammered. Seeing how uncomfortable Naruto looked now that she was around she asked, "Um…did I say anything I shouldn't have?"

Naruto moved his hand to his stomach for a moment before consciously pulling it away saying, "Not really. You made it clear you don't think I trust you." Sakura's eyes widened and she quickly tried to say she was drunk but was cut off by Naruto saying, "Sakura…I…I know you've noticed some things about me that don't exactly add up. And that I've been less the forthcoming about them… I-I think I'm ready to talk about it…but would like to wait until we return to the village."

Sakura nodded saying, "Are you sure?"

Naruto tried to smile saying, "Yeah, it's just I've never had to talk about it before so need a little more time."

Sakura gave him a smile saying, "I won't let you back out now you know."

Seeing Sakura's smile filled Naruto with a sense of hope that he was making a bigger deal out of his being a jinchuriki then it needed to be so found it easier to smile as he said, "I'm counting on it."

Before either teen could say anything further Jiraiya dropped down saying, "Naruto, we've got to go. Tsunade's making a break for it."

"I'm coming too," Sakura said despite the pounding headache that seemed to be returning full force now that she was no longer focused on Naruto.

"You sure you up to it?" Jiraiya asked eyeing her wearily, "I wouldn't blame you if all you wanted to do was stay in bed."

"I'll make due."

"Alright, let's go. She's taking an old hunter's path to Tea Country if she reaches Degrashi Port we may have to let her go."

Both teens nodded gravely not wanting their mission to be a failure after dedicating so much time to it so quickly followed Jiraiya as he began running deeper into the woods in an effort to get in front of his teammate.

* * *

"You sent for me Lord Hokage?"

"Ah yes Kakashi. I've been sitting on a mission for your team for some time now and while I was hoping Jiraiya would have found Tsunade by now. Jiraiya's last message had them heading towards Tea Country following a few leads. Therefore, I want you to link up with Sakura and Naruto and then proceed to Grass in order to extract a kunoichi by the name of Karin."

The Hokage noticed a small amount of apprehension appear in Kakashi's eye so asked, "Is that a problem?"

"Well to be honest sir, I fear how Sasuke will react to learning Naruto and Sakura have been with Jiraiya all this time. Maybe it would be best if you assign another team of genin."

"I'm afraid that's not possible. I'm just as troubled as you are by Sasuke's development. That is one reason for this mission. If you think he is incapable of reeling in his bloodlust for his brother and start acting as a proper shinobi should then we'll have to take steps to bring him in line or drop him completely."

Nodding Kakashi said, "And the other reason?"

Smiling Sarutobi said, "Well due in part to Naruto's being the one to convince her to defect and her ability to sense chakra at such long distances. It almost has to be Naruto. I told her that when it came time to help her leave that she'd be able to sense it. Once she senses Naruto's chakra coming closer, I'm sure she'll take the steps necessary to make her leaving go smoothly."

Kakashi nodded before leaving the office. As he shut the door behind him, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was often on missions where trouble wasn't expected that it almost guaranteed that it would make an appearance.


	11. Chapter11 The Slug Princess and The Toad

**An:** I would like to thank those that take the time to review as always, your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.**

**Chapter 11: The Slug Princess and The Toad**

Tsunade had made it a habit to find the best ways to escape pursuit from the various moneylenders she had left twisting in the wind. That was why as soon as she and Shizune had checked into the bed and breakfast and before she had even sat down at one of the gambling tables she had found the old hunter's trail she, Shizune, and Tonto were using to escape from Jiraiya. The only downside had been to access it they had needed to leave from the front gate and doing so outside of the morning rush would have attracted attention even though they had been henged.

Looking over her shoulder, Tsunade could see that Shizune was disappointed in her decision but knew she'd get over it. In part due to Tsunade believing Jiraiya had merely been talking tough and doubted the Hokage would mark her as a missing-nin. Feeling the disapproval in her apprentice's gaze, Tsunade said, "Relax Shizune. There's no way they'll let it get out that I refused to come back and slap me with missing-nin status."

"As you say Lady Tsunade," Shizune said blandly.

Tsunade didn't like the tone but figured the woman just wasn't as sure as she was. Naturally since in a sense Tsunade was betting on the fact that she was right and considering her track record for such things. She felt Shizune may just have been extremely worried and was trying not to show it.

Tsunade tried to not let Shizune's silent treatment bother her, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed between them. She was about to demand Shizune tell her what was bothering her when her attention was demanded by a figuring stepping from behind a tree along the path. Shocked at who it was she said, "Jiraiya! But how…?"

Laughing boisterously in the way he did when she knew Jiraiya was trying to avoid the truth he said, "Because I am a sage."

She was about to demand the truth when Shizune walking past the female Sannin holding her suitcase in front of her said, "That's alright Lord Jiraiya." Turning to face the woman that had trained her for years, her first apprentice said, "I was the one that told Jiraiya about your escape route."

"What! Why you little backstabber, after everything I've done for you."

"Tsunade," Jiraiya said harshly.

Looking hurt but understanding Shizune said, "I'm sorry Lady Tsunade. But I can't sit back and watch you as you continue to waste your life and tarnish your name. You've become a mere petty criminal with all the massive debts you racked up over the years. You've even stooped to the lowly level of planning not to pay beforehand. The truth is…you're no longer the woman my uncle loved."

Hearing that from Shizune was like a punch to the gut, but Tsunade after years of hiding from such painful revelations did what one usually does it such a situation and that was lash out. Which she did as she said, "Really, if you've grown so tired of my company Shizune you needn't have resorted to such lengths. Truthfully, I could have done without your mother-hen attitude years ago."

Shizune had expected such an outburst but nevertheless it still hurt to hear Tsunade thought so little of her. Even if a part of her believed she was being less than truthful.

Glaring at the assembled group Tsunade began continuing along her path till Jiraiya stepped in front of her. Her angry brown eyes met his as she said, "So are we going to do this. In case you forgot I've put you in the hospital before."

"How could I forget that," Jiraiya said trying to keep his lack of desire to fight her from his voice by jokingly adding, "It's one of the sights that could have me drop dead a content man."

"Idiot," Tsunade said looking away with a small coloring of her cheeks. Getting control of her flustered emotions she faced him again saying, "I mean it Jiraiya. I'm not going back so if you are here to fight get on with it."

Jiraiya tensed putting Tsunade on guard. But a moment later after closing his eyes his body relaxed and stepping to the side said, "Maybe some other time." Tsunade not questioning his change of heart began walking by but as she passed him he added, "Tsunade, I meant what I said though about you gaining missing-nin status. Sarutobi-sensei can't ignore your actions anymore than he could Orochimaru's."

Tsunade paused a moment but said, "Then I guess this is good-bye." Moving past him she continued on until the kid in orange stepped in her path. "Move it brat, you heard Jiraiya. I'm getting a free pass."

"Not from me you aren't Granny," Naruto said challengingly.

Tsunade glared noticing it was a sentiment shared by Sakura who looked a little green around the gills due to her needing to keep up with Jiraiya and Naruto as they ran to cut Tsunade off so soon after her introduction to heavy drinking. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," Naruto continued brazenly, "I'm not going to let you off the hook just because Pervy Sage has a problem with putting you in your place."

"Do you have any idea of who you are talking too?"

"An old lady that drinks and gambles with other people's money and the type of trash that would abandon someone who's only trying to help her."

Tsunade was a little taken aback by the boy's response since it had been a long time since anyone had been willing to talk to her in such a manner. Sakura though did appear rather nervous due to how Naruto had spoken saying, "Um…Naruto…"

"Don't worry Sakura I've got this," the boy said slamming his fist into his hand.

"You do," Tsunade said torn between insulted and amused, "Brat, I can take you with one finger."

"Oh yeah, well I'm going to make sure you need the whole hand," Naruto said charging.

"Naruto that's not something to shoot for," Sakura called after her teammate and looked to Jiraiya to do something.

Naruto ignored her in order to focus on the smirking woman as he pulled a kunai from his pouch and threw it. Tsunade simply moved her head to the side allowing it to miss by mere centimeters. Undeterred, he pulled another one before jumping at the Sannin saying, "Dodge this," as he swung at her mid-leap.

Tsunade did so, this time pivoting to the side fully before finger-flicking Naruto in the stomach while he was still airborne. Naruto flew away from the Sannin before hitting a tree and bouncing off leaving a small impression where he hit.

"Naruto," Sakura shouted as the boy hit the ground moving to help him stand.

"Lady Tsunade, that's too much," Shizune said seeing the damage to the tree.

"The little fool should learn his place," Tsunade said, "Thinking he could take on a Sannin."

Standing Naruto said, "Why not…I barely felt a thing." Still from the way he held his side it was obvious that he had indeed felt the blow.

"Cute brat, but while bravado has its place you are outclassed in every way. Give up." Tsunade could see in the boy's eyes he wasn't about to back down so shrugging said, "Alright fine, I'll humor you. Hell I'll even tell you where I'm going to strike next which is right in the middle of that shiny forehead protector of yours."

Strangely that seemed to cause a small amount of doubt to appear in Naruto's eyes. Reaching behind his head, he removed it handing it to Sakura who had moved to his side and said to her, "Here hold this."

"What are you doing?" Tsunade asked confused as he passed his headband over, "Trust me you are going to want the padding."

"Probably," Naruto admitted, "But that headband is important to me and I don't want you messing it up."

"That's exactly my point. You know you can't stop me, the smart play is to back down," Tsunade said getting agitated.

"I'll never back down because one day I'm going to be the Hokage," Naruto said causing Tsunade to stiffen as a memory of her brother saying something similar. "_An opening_," Naruto thought due to Tsunade's faraway look and created a clone which began stabilizing the chakra that began rotating in his hand.

"Jiraiya is that…" Shizune said shocked to see a genin using Rasengan.

"Ha-ha he did it," Jiraiya said, surprised as well. But seeing that Tsunade wasn't reacting to the danger he began to move to prevent his student from connecting.

It proved to be unnecessary as even though distracted and out of practice, Tsunade was still a shinobi of talent. Reacting on instinct she avoided Naruto's outstretched hand and retaliated. However, instead of a simple finger-flick she awkwardly backhanded him away due to her surprise. Still, even an off-balance backhand from Tsunade as Jiraiya could attest was like a full on kick to the face from a mule. Flying backwards down the trail, Naruto hit the ground hard and skidded to a stop after several feet. Laying face down, he tried to stand but his arms failed him as he ate dirt again.

"Tsunade, what…" Jiraiya shouted.

"What," Tsunade replied back still angry at the memories the boy riled in her, "You're the one that taught him that jutsu and put those stupid ideas in his head aren't you. What's the matter Jiraiya in a hurry to outlive another of your students?"

Shocked at the venom in her voice, Jiraiya came to a stop as Tsunade grabbed up her suitcase and began walking down the trail. As she passed Naruto's collapsed form he grabbed her ankle saying, "I…I told y-you…I told you'd that you'd need your whole hand."

Pulling her foot free of his grasp roughly she said, "Well congratulations. You sure look like the winner to me."

As Tsunade walked away Sakura helped Naruto back to his feet, but as she tried to turn him away from the retreating woman whose pig kept looking back at Shizune, Naruto shouted, "Don't think this is over Grandma. I'll keep coming until I've dragged you back to Konoha. That's a promise" As they approached Jiraiya and Shizune, the blond said, "What the hell was that Pervy Sage? You had us run all the way here just to let her go."

Sighing, Jiraiya said, "Sorry about that. Truthfully, I was hoping that just us forcing a confrontation with her would be enough." Having lost sight of Tsunade, he searched for some sign on her before saying, "Don't worry, I'll take the responsibility for losing her. But hey look on the bright side you completed a Rasengan."

"I did that before we left," Naruto said matter of factly.

"Really, well I'm pretty sure I'd remember that."

"Maybe, if you weren't always peeking on girls all the time you'd know that," Naruto said getting worked up.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Jiraiya replied his eyes going distant as he thought about one that had always been the pinnacle of beauty. "Anyway," Jiraiya said shaking the memory away, "I still want you working on that jutsu until you can do it one handed."

"What why?" Naruto said, "I can use it like this." To prove his point he made the familiar hand-sign for the Shadow Clone jutsu and disappeared in a cloud of smoke that once it cleared revealed him standing next to a clone.

Holding his hand out the clone began stabilizing the chakra but Jiraiya quickly closed the distance between them and flicked the clone in the forehead dispelling it. Straightening, the Toad Sage said, "That's why. You know where you need to improve which is what you created the clone for. But the truth is it's like riding a bike with training wheels. Eventually they need to come off."

"Fine," Naruto said, "You could at least say good job."

"I didn't say that?"

"No"

"I'm pretty sure I did," Jiraiya said turning to walk away and fought the impulse to look back. Shizune did turning to look sadly in the direction the woman she had admired had fled and truly wished she would one day find herself again.

Sakura helped Naruto as they followed behind the two adults. "That was pretty reckless of you," Sakura said. Naruto nodded causing her to say, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Naruto asked looking at her in surprise.

"I wasn't a real good teammate back there to let you go at it alone."

"Ah don't worry, Sakura. I know it was pretty stupid of me to take her on by myself. Also, well you don't look so good yourself." When Sakura's head whipped towards him, he knew he had once again put his foot in his mouth so quickly corrected himself by blurting, "I mean due to all the drinking you did last night. You're looking kind of green."

Sakura did calm but said, "You shouldn't make negative comment on a girl's looks especially when she's at less than her best."

"Uh…it's a beautiful shade of green."

Sakura giggled again focusing ahead and although disappointed the mission was a failure was glad that they'd be returning to Konoha where she and Naruto could finally have the talk she had been waiting for. After the Konoha-nin vacated the area, a mop of blond hair peeked out from behind the tree it had been hiding behind. The shadow clone, which Naruto had made as he showed off his Rasengan to Jiraiya, then took off in the direction Tsunade had retreated since he had made a promise and he aimed to keep it.

* * *

Leaning against a wooden support, while resting on the patio to the onsen that Sakura and Naruto's room looked out on, Jiraiya poured himself another saucer of sake which he immediately downed. He heard footsteps approaching the sliding door as he poured himself another. Stepping from the room Shizune kneeled behind him saying, "They are both resting comfortably. Naruto escaped with only a few bruised ribs. I was worried he may have been concussed all things considered."

"Yeah, luckily he has a hard head… among other things. I'm sure he'll be rearing to go after her again tomorrow."

He couldn't see it, but he could feel the weak smile that appeared on Shizune's face most likely due to how Naruto had continued to boast on how he was going to drag Tsunade back if it was the last thing he did. "Yes, he was most insistent that we not head back to Konoha till he got another chance."

Jiraiya chuckled saying, "Well giving up isn't in his vocabulary. He's going to make a damn great Hokage."

"He faces such long odds, Lord Jiraiya. Do you truly think he will rise above all those that dream of filling that position?"

Thinking of the boy's mother and father, he said, "Oh yeah, trust me I have an eye for talent and that kid has the most important quality any shinobi who dreams of being Hokage needs. One day Tsunade will be brought back to Konoha and mark my words Naruto will be the one that does it." Feeling the sad smile again he added, "Shizune, there was no need to out yourself to your master."

"No Lord Jiraiya, she needed to know I was the one that put you on her trail. For so long I merely helped her in her running from her past. I…she needed to know how I felt about what she was doing to herself and her legacy."

Jiraiya nodded understanding the young woman's point, but feared just to what depths Tsunade would sink without her apprentice there to act as a brake.

* * *

Tsunade hadn't looked back once, making a concentrated effort to keep her head pointed straight ahead. But it wasn't easy especially due to Tonton's sad oinks as the pig trotted beside her. Although finding the constant reminder of Shizune's leaving to be an annoyance, she held her peace fearing to push even her pet away. As the sun began to set she almost absentmindedly turned to tell Shizune that they'd be camping for the night, but caught herself so instead decided to push on until she reached the first town in Tea Country.

Several hours into her nighttime journey she stopped saying, "Come out where I can see you. Really a half trained squad of genin could do a better job of hiding their presences."

"Well maybe we wanted you to know we were here," a voice called back in a tone in which she could almost see the shark-toothed smile that she was sure was on the man's face.

As Kisame and Itachi appeared from the trees on opposite sides of the path she asked, "And why would you want to do that?"

"It might be because of a certain gambling establishment that you trashed. Its owner hired us to help him in his desire to put you in your place," Kisame said amused with his hand resting on the handle of his sword.

Smirking Tsunade said, "So you found the courage to come back after Jiraiya caused you to go scampering off like a couple of beaten puppies. It must be quite the price on my head."

Kisame surprised her when instead of rising to the bait replied, "Hardly. Hell even Kakuzu wouldn't accept this job due to how little it paid and trust me when I say that's saying something. But me and Itachi here were in the neighborhood so I figured why not. But isn't that interesting, you must have seen us threatening those two cute little genin but instead of leaping to their aid you simply sat back and watched. And people say I'm cold-blooded."

Tsunade's face hardened hearing a killer like Kisame comparing her to him. Hearing the echo of Shizune's words playing in the back of her mind she shouted, "What do you know about me you bastard?"

Rushing the pair as Tonton darted off into the woods; she swung at Kisame who drew Samehada in order to block her blow. Expecting the great sword to absorb the attack he was surprised when as she hit the blade he was blown off his feet as a result of the punch while Itachi leapt away. Flipping in the air, he landed on his feet and skidded to a halt after tearing a path through the ground.

As he straightened Tsunade noticing the surprise on his face said, "You aren't the first wielder of that blade that I've fought against. Your little trick isn't going to work on me."

Landing next to his partner, Itachi began explaining, "Don't rely on Samehada's ability to absorb chakra to nullify her attacks. She gathers and releases it so quickly that even it can't get the timing down."

"You could have given me a heads-up beforehand," Kisame said annoyed with his partner's affinity for silence.

"I thought you realized this encounter wouldn't be settled with brute strength."

"I see… you aren't planning on using that, are you?"

"No, the client made it clear he wants her somewhat aware when we deliver her. As she is now I doubt she has the mental fortitude to survive Tsukuyomi." Itachi noticed Tsunade's face darken at being talked about as it she was somehow diminished. Continuing he added, "Seeing as how you were the one that accepted this assignment I suppose there's no harm in allowing you to play with her some more. Just be mindful the client wants her in relatively good condition."

"Good," Kisame said menacingly, "I was afraid you were about to step in before I even got a chance to break a sweat." Running at the Sannin with his blade held behind him, he closed with Tsunade quickly and begun swinging at her recklessly.

Forced on the defensive Tsunade avoided the blows and finding an opening struck out with a punch that caught him in the stomach. Kisame gasped before bursting into a log that her punch shattered into splinters. Cursing, she began searching for the missing-nin and found him closing on her from behind as he moved through the ground his sword sticking from it like a shark's fin would the water. "Fool," she shouted smashing her fist into the ground shattering the earth around her. As the man and earth flew into the air she kicked a large chunk of rock that flew into Kisame knocking him away and into the forest.

Turning towards Itachi who watched on dispassionately, she charged him and when she was close enough lashed out with a punch that caught him in the face. However instead of flying away his body burst into a flock of crows which began flying about around her. Ignoring them and recognizing the genjutsu, she released it causing the birds to disappear. Sensing a presence behind her and spinning towards the surprised looking Itach while rearing back a fist that she then delivered into the Uchiha's chest that to her surprise and soon horror sunk into his chest.

"You should know Lady Tsunade, it's never the genjutsu you know about that you should fear," Itachi said easily despite the hand in his chest. Unable to pull the fist free, her eyes grew wide in terror as the red substance that had become her bane began traveling from the wound and up her arm.

"Blood!" her mind shouted in revulsion as it continued to crawl up her body. As it neared her face and ultimately she suspected to her mouth her mind shut down but not before letting out a terrified shriek of disgust.

Coming out of the woods, rubbing his hair clear of the dirt Tsunade's last attack had left him covered in, Kisame said, "Damn, why'd you have to cut the fun short?"

"You weren't taking her seriously and that may have resulted in me needing to find a new partner. Unlike Kakuzu, I find that such a situation would be unfortunate."

"Aw, you do like me," Kisame said as he grabbed the unconscious Tsunade around the waist and tossed her onto the edge of his blade which was resting on his shoulder to carry her. Before Itachi could respond Kisame spun to a noise in the woods to see the jinchuriki Itachi had been assigned running from them. "Ah a bonus," he said about to dump Tsunade to the ground in order to fire off a jutsu.

"Let's go," Itachi said beginning to head away in the opposite direction.

"Huh, but he's right there."

"No he isn't and all you would succeed in doing is calling Jiraiya's wraith down upon us at this point. Considering the clone hasn't dispelled itself its unlikely the boy knows what the jutsu was truly developed for, which will give us time to deliver our prize to the client before Jiraiya gets involved."

"Hmph," Kisame replied sounding unconcerned, "Let him come. Considering how easy you handled both Tsunade and Orochimaru. I'm beginning to think these Sannin are all talk."

Itachi stopped and looking over his shoulder said, "I'm sure you know how the Sannin got their name due to their surviving a face to face encounter with Hanzo easily one the greatest shinobi of his day."

"Yeah, but the Leader handed him his ass on a platter…"

Carrying on over his partner the Uchiha added, "Due to that battle they were seen as the pinnacle of the Leaf and in a sense they were. However, while one seems to have fallen from that point and the other merely wants to remain as he is while chasing jutsu. The last of those Legendary Three has continued to climb to new heights due to his unwavering love for his village and those important to him." Turning forward again as he walked to where they would meet their client he concluded, "Should Jiraiya ever truly go all out I think even Leader would be hard-pressed to defeat him."

* * *

The shadow clone felt bad about leaving Tsunade in such a bind, but after witnessing her defeat knew the best way to help was to report back to Naruto. When it saw Kisame spin to it as a result of a twig it had snapped in its zeal to get away it felt its heart leap into its throat. But apparently whatever the pair wanted with Naruto could wait till after they finished up with Tsunade since the missing-nin began to walk away in the opposite direction.

Calming, it moved to the hunter's path as it began its race back to the hotel hoping that Naruto and the others hadn't checked out. Hearing some rustling in the woods as something closed with him, the clone feared that the two missing-nin had decided to come after him. That was why he was surprised when the pig Tsunade traveled with burst from some bushes and running up to him as he continued on his way tripped him by darting in front of his foot.

Falling hard onto the ground it turned to the pig about to yell at it when with a charge Tonton having spent years around shinobi and knew all about shadow clones slammed her head into the clone's dispelling it.

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he sat up in the bed quickly and feeling panicked due to his heart pounding in his chest. Surprised at how real the dream he had just experienced felt he nevertheless laid back down to return to sleep but couldn't shake the urgency he felt. Hearing voices outside the sliding door of the room he was sharing with Sakura, he decided to investigate.

Sliding the door open, and seeing Shizune and Jiraiya there he asked, "Um…what's going on."

"Nothing kid," Jiraiya replied, "Shizune and I were just taking in the night air. Get some sleep, you might heal fast, but take it from an expert you'll be feeling it in the morning."

"Okay…" Naruto said but still hesitated to shut the door.

Picking up on his apprentice's hesitance Jiraiya asked pouring himself another cup, "Is everything alright?"

"I guess so… maybe all the craziness of the past few days is catching up to me. I just had a real strange dream involving Granny Tsunade and those Akatsuki bastards."

Jiraiya's saucer paused in its trip to his lips and slowly lowering it down he inquired, "What happened?"

"Well those bastards were confronting her about something and then a fight broke out. I was watching the whole thing but instead of helping I ran away to get help. Granny lost, but then it got really strange and her pet pig attacked me."

Jiraiya noticed Shizune was beginning to guess at the same conclusion he had jumped to but wanting confirmation asked, "Naruto, earlier when you showed off your Rasengan. Did you create a clone to keep tabs on Tsunade?"

Looking a little bashful and worried Jiraiya would get upset since he seemed willing to let her go the blond nodded. Confused at the way the two adults suddenly tensed albeit more noticeably in Shizune's reaction he asked, "How did you know that Pervy Sage?"

"We'll talk about it later," Jiraiya said acting nonchalant, "Go back to bed. You did good today."

Pleased at the praise and feeling his desire to sleep return unaware Shizune was putting him under a genjutsu. He turned heading back into the room and made a beeline straight for his bed. As soon as Shizune heard him sink into his mattress she said urgently, "Lord Jiraiya…"

"I know," Jiraiya said standing cursing his forgetting about why Akatsuki had shown in the town originally. "Watch over them for me will you."

"But…"

"Don't worry Shizune," Jiraiya said sounding as calming as possible given the circumstances, "She's alive and I'll find her."

Disappearing from Tsunade's apprentice's sight, the dark haired woman whispered, "Good luck."

* * *

Running through the town, Jiraiya continued to berate his idiocy. Both in letting Tsunade go, as well as forgetting she had been targeted by Akatsuki. As the fact that if not for Naruto's stubbornness that she would have disappeared to a horrible fate with him none the wiser settled into his stomach it filled him with an anger that he had not felt in years. An anger that manifested in his decision to make his entrance at the casino of the man that had hired Akatsuki as messy and noisy as possible.

Blowing the double doors off their hinges with a Rasengan, he glared at the many shocked casino workers in the midst of cleaning the place still from Tsunade's rampage as well as the security personnel that were watching over them. His gaze settled on the two goons that had been with the casino owner when he had first arrived into the town. With a small motion of his head towards the hole where the doors once stood he said to the workers, "Get out."

Making his way to the goons as the workers heeded his advice; he wasn't surprised as the security guards closed on him pulling batons from his belt. Still even though outnumbered fourteen to one he barely paused as he closed with the two men slowly dispatching the guards easily as they got within reach. As the bodies landed around them, the two goons began to panic with one charging Jiraiya wildly as the other one tried to bolt.

Jiraiya caught the goon's wild swing in his hand moving the man's fist to the side in order to glare into his eyes. He then kicked the man in the chest sending him flying right into the other goon just as he was reaching a door. Closing the distance before either man could get to his feet; he grabbed them around the throats and lifting them into the air smashed them into a wall hard enough to leave an impression. Leaving no doubts as to how serious he was he said, "I'm only going to ask this once. Where's your boss?"

The braver of the two and the man that attacked him defiantly responded with a, "Fuck you! I'm no fucking rat."

Letting the man's throat go, Jiraiya quickly clamped his hand around the man's face saying, "Wrong answer." The goon disappeared in a cloud of smoke which as it cleared revealed that Jiraiya had turned him into a frog.

The more cowardly goon responded as expected screaming, "What…What the fuck man! You turned him into a frog."

"That's right so unless you want to end up spending the rest of your days eating flies I suggest you tell me where your boss is."

"Shit…I don't fucking know…"

Jiraiya let his throat go causing the goon to panic as Jiraiya slowly reached for his head. "I swear it's the fucking truth. Boss Dojima's not here. He's probably at his island waiting on Akatsuki."

"Where is the island?"

"I don't know," the goon said quickly as Jiraiya lowered his hand. When Jiraiya motioned for him to keep talking, he added, "I've never been there. It's where the Boss stores his merchandise for his illegal operations."

"Which are?"

"He sells sex slaves. He takes some of us there when he gets in new shipments to break them in. But I've only heard about it and he blindfolds those that are picked. Says it's for operational security or some shit. Please man that's all I know I swear."

"You've been very helpful," Jiraiya said before burying his fist in the man's stomach causing him to blackout. Creating several shadow clones he tasked them with gathering evidence as well as to tie up any other thugs inside the casino before one would go get a Fire Country magistrate as he began running from the town towards the path Tsunade had been using.

* * *

Itachi and Kisame stepped off of the small boat that one of their client's men had rowed as it docked at the small island just off the Tea Country coast that Boss Dojima used to run some of his many illegal operations. Waiting for them on the torch light covered dock was the man that hired their group and who was standing between two guards taller than even Kisame and each of whom was armed with a giant battle axe. Both muscular men were bald and bare-chested with their lower faces covered in demon mempo giving them the appearance of being twins. The only discernible mark between the men was a viscous scar that ran the length of one of their chests.

Stepping away from his guards as Kisame threw Tsunade from the boat onto the dock, Boss Dojima said, "Excellent, I'm glad to see you're am organization that gets results." Watching as Tsunade shivered uncontrollably he asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing," Itachi said calmly stepping from the boat, "She is trapped in a genjutsu." Eyeing the two guards, Itachi asked, "Are these all the men you have on the island?"

"There's another guardian but he never leaves the dungeon room," the boss answered, "Why?"

"I was merely curious," Itachi said shrugging, "I suppose it would be a shame if we went through all the effort of capturing her and you were unable to hold her. Having an enemy of her stature would do Akatsuki no good."

"Don't worry; she won't be the first kunoichi I've broken. Besides the men stationed here are my best and are completely loyal to me. She isn't going anywhere until she's branded and sold." To prove his point he pulled a needle injector from his jacket that was filled with a clear liquid and jabbed it in her arm. As he depressed the plunger filling Tsunade with a sedative he said, "You can remove the genjutsu. She's not going anywhere under her own power."

"Very well," Itachi said releasing the genjutsu and turning towards the boat added, "We'll be taking our payment and leaving."

Tossing a money pouch to Kisame who caught it before following after his partner, Boss Dajima dropped to his haunches and seeing Tsunade although groggy from the sedatives could probably hear him said darkly, "Hey bitch remember me? Your little rampage cost me quite a bit, but don't worry you'll make it up to me." Waving his two guards over the large man each grabbed a shoulder and dragged her between them to the cage were they would keep her sedated until the real fun began.

* * *

Jiraiya raced down the path where he had last seen Tsunade fearing his chances of finding her before anything horrible happened to her. One of his shadow clones had dispelled itself after searching Dojima's office. Unfortunately the bastard appeared to be very cautious in his illegal endeavors as there was nothing there to really incriminate him. The only thing of note the clone had found was an old map in the man's office which had shown the hunter's trail he was currently on.

The map showed that the trail after entering Tea Country passed close to the ocean where Jiraiya was positive he'd find the island the goon had mentioned. Unfortunately the map had shown that there were several along the coast and Jiraiya feared if he guessed wrong he'd arrive only to find Tsunade after she had been subjected to countless abuses. Yet as he ran, fortune seemed to be on his side as he noticed something running towards him. Recognizing Tsunade's pet Tonton, he met it halfway stopping only long enough to scoop the pig up before leaping to the trees.

Soothing the piglet as best he could and now positive that Itachi and Kisame had not backtracked towards the town so didn't need to search the ground for signs took off for where the battle took place. Finding it easily due to the destroyed section of earth, he leapt to the ground placing Tsunade's pet down which knew immediately what to do. Running her nose along the ground, Tonton stiffened before raising her head and taking off further down the trail. Following behind the piglet he thought, "_Hold on Tsunade. I'm coming_."

* * *

Tsunade could hear something's raspy breathing in the darkness as she fought against the sedative coursing through her. Sadly, whatever they had pumped her with was proving to have the upper hand as it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. Turning her head, she could make out other cages like the one she found herself in that were empty so guessed that Dojima was currently between shipments.

That information filled her with a small measure of hope since it meant that at the very least it would take Dojima time to line up a buyer. Still she knew it was only a matter of time before she'd probably be raped multiple times as well as subjected to other unimaginable abuses as they 'trained her,' for her new role. Not giving into the fear she felt welling up inside her due to the training she received as well as the fact it wasn't the first time an enemy that had her at his mercy attempted to force himself upon her. Still she did feel some of the fear seep into her as she remembered one time during the Second Shinobi War where one such man had almost succeeded and would have if not for the timely arrival of the man she had pushed past just that morning and who now seemed inclined to let her go.

Realizing that this time no late moment heroics were going to save her, Tsunade almost gave into despair and was about to bite her tongue off in order to be reunited with her loved ones. However something being jammed into her shoulder caused her to turn her head towards the sudden pain as it faded along with her ability to keep her eyes open. Before she closed her eyes they focused on a tall gaunt man that at the moment was walking like some nightmare creature on all fours due to the ways his knees were bent. Guessing the man to be blind from the cloth over his eyes, she gave up her fight and allowed the sedatives to put her to sleep.

Strangely her dreams returned her to the day where Jiraiya had saved her and as she cried into his chest unable to keep her emotions under control due to the stress of her almost rape. She remembered that despite her shirt being torn the Legendary Super Pervert had been a complete gentleman as he held her and whispered, "Hey, hey, Princess you should know that the Gallant Jiraiya always arrives in the nick of time to save the day," she couldn't help but wonder just how different her life would have been if she had given into the feelings being held in his arms had created within her.

* * *

If not for Tonton, Jiraiya would have missed the small trail that led away from the path to a small dock along the shore. Following right behind as the piglet turned down the trail, they paused as they saw a man in a dark cloak standing on the dock. Guessing it to be the driver of the boat tied to it, Jiraiya wondered if they had somehow arrived before Tsunade or if Akatsuki had already handed her off.

"Oink," Tonton called softly and from the way she stared at the several small islands off in the distance Jiraiya guessed it was the latter.

Patting the piglet's head, he whispered, "Stay here," before creeping through the woods towards his target. He noticed the cloaked man was leaning against a pillar of the dock with his arms crossed and from the way his shoulders slowly raised and fell guessed him to be asleep. Grabbing the boatman from behind with an iron grip around his throat, Jiraiya said darkly to the startled man, "If you want to see tomorrow you better tell me. Which island did they take the woman too?"

The man raised a shaky arm towards the island in question and although positive he was telling the truth Jiraiya warned, "You better not be lying to me."

Jumping into the boat after hitting the man on the head and tying his unconscious form to a tree, he pushed off of the dock as he rowed towards the island. Finding a similar dock on the island hidden in a cove he bypassed it in order to hide the boat and approach the hideout from the surrounding trees.

As he neared Dojima's hideaway, he noticed that although the buildings appeared to be permanent structures that there were no guards to be seen. That told Jiraiya that Dojima was the quality not quantity type which meant any guards that he did encounter would probably be missing-nin. Moving towards the largest building at the center of the grounds guessing the other buildings were for the storage of supplies or illicit drugs. Reaching the main door, he was about to test if it was locked when he sensed an attack from behind. Ducking and rolling away he barely avoided losing his head as an axe buried itself into the wall where he had been standing moments before.

Getting back to his feet, he watched as a towering man pulled the large handled axe free easily before holding it in front of him. Jiraiya was about to charge the man when he had to pivot to the side as another axe flew pass him burying itself into the building beyond him. Looking at the new threat he could see another giant this one with a scar on his chest charging towards him. The first giant took the opportunity to heft his axe above his head as with a war cry he came at Jiraiya intent on burying it in his skull. Jiraiya moved into the man's swing as he missed and buried the axe-head into the ground. Delivering a punch to the man's gut he cringed as it felt like his hand had impacted solid stone. The man backhanded him away into the giant he thought of as Scar who caught him in a powerful grip from behind.

"Hey now, I prefer not to be held by men," Jiraiya quipped, but Scar apparently wasn't the talking type as he tightened the bear hug. Scar's fellow giant began closing with them and not wanting to be caught between two hulking men, Jiraiya slammed his head backwards into Scar's face. Hearing the crunch of cartilage, he took advantage of the lessening of Scar's grip in order to use his leg to push free of the man. Landing in a crouch, his hair began growing and flew in the charging Giant's direction taking the form of a lion's mouth before smashing into him. Lifting the Giant off his feet the jutsu carried him in the air until crashing him through the wall of one of the storage buildings. Jiraiya cursed as he saw a whole assortment of weapons lying about inside the storage building. But couldn't pay it much mind as he had to avoid the axe that Scar wielded and buried into the ground where Jiraiya had been. Jiraiya whipped his hair around but Scar caught it one handed around the pony tail before pulling Jiraiya off his feet towards him.

Scar attempted to punch him in the stomach, however Jiraiya caught the giant fist with his hand and using the fist as a pivot kicked the man in the side of the head. Scar staggered to the side as a result of the blow, which Jiraiya followed up by grabbing his head and pulled it down into his knee. He then kicked the reeling man in the chest, who bounced back and up against the door to the main building.

Hearing the 'thunk' of a large crossbow letting loose a bolt, Jiraiya turned to see the Giant standing in the hole his entry into the storage room had made holding a crossbow that looked like it should have been mounted on wheels it was so large. Acting on instinct, his hair began wrapping around him and covered him in spikes but the bolt passed through it easily. The Giant threw the weapon to the side expecting the jutsu to end with Jiraiya's death. However as it did and Jiraiya emerged unharmed he wondered why until he realized the Sannin had turned to avoid the bolt while in the mass of hair.

Jiraiya looking behind him drew the Giant's attention to what he was staring at causing the large man to see his partner pinned to the door with the giant crossbow bolt sticking through his chest. The Giant roared in rage as he charged the Sannin.

Waiting to the last moment, Jiraiya avoided the wild punch the Giant threw and spinning to face the large man's back delivered a Rasengan right to the middle of it. The large man was lifted off his feet by the power of the jutsu and flew into his fellow guardian where he was impaled on the quiver as well before crashing through the door. Jiraiya entered the building walking past the two corpses as he began his search for Tsunade.

Jiraiya guessed that the layout of the hideout was pretty straightforward as he approached a pair of staircases with one leading up and one leading down. Guessing down was where Tsunade would be, he created a shadow clone to head upstairs just in case. Finding the basement level to be completely dark, he gave his eyes a moment to adjust before proceeding deeper. The basement hall ended in a closed door and taking a shaky breath hoping to find his old teammate in good condition pulled it open.

Scanning the dark room all Jiraiya could see was empty cages before seeing a form on the floor at the center of a cage towards the back of the room. "Tsunade," he called running into the room and for a change glad to see her fully dressed.

He feared the worse as she didn't respond but approaching the metal bars could see the small rise and fall of her chest. "Hold on," he said reassuringly more to himself than to her, "I'll have you out of there in a jiff."

So focused on freeing her was he that it nearly cost him his life as a man dropped from the ceiling above. As it was Jiraiya received a deep cut along his chest as he spun to the threat. Punching the man away, he watched as his opponent landed gracefully on all fours the man's front half being supported by the triple bladed katars he wielded in his hands. The man skittered away into the darkness as Jiraiya gripped his wound keeping his senses focused despite the pain.

Steadying his breathing, he could hear the occasional raspy breathing of a man who spent to long alone in the dark and dank cell room. With a hiss the man leap at Jiraiya again from the darkness, but he was ready turning towards the airborne target and spitting a large volume of oil which sent the man flying away. Raising his hand towards his mouth he took a deep breath and blew a stream of flame at the man who was still lying against the cage he had smashed against. As the jutsu connected the man roared in pain as he tried to put the fire out by rolling along the ground.

Jiraiya turned away and delivered a kick to the lock of Tsunade's cage busting it free. Stepping in he said, "Hey princess, you didn't need to go to such lengths to get my attention." Picking her up being mindful to prevent the blood of his wound from leaking onto her, Jiraiya worked her to his back and as he made his way to the surface aware the burning man was no longer moving he received the memories of his clone that told him they no longer had any business on the island.

* * *

Dojima heard the ruckus outside but put it out of his mind to concentrate on the things he would be doing to his prisoner in the morning since he knew his two guards would handle it. The three shinobi he had guarding the island had lived there for years and had warded off attacks from rival gangs to heroic fools looking for some of the women he had sold. The three men had dealt with all the threats both brutally and efficiently so doubted whoever the latest intruder was would be any different.

That all changed when he heard a crash that sounded that it had come from the inside. Suddenly wishing he had a battalion of men at his disposal, he darted from his office to head downstairs to take stock of the situation. He had just managed to get to the top of the stairs when he saw the white haired man that had manhandled his thugs in his bar the day before making his way up the stairs. Still remembering the desire to wet himself he had felt the last time they met, he began to backtrack to his office. Slamming and locking the door behind him. He was still kicked towards the center of the room as the doors flew open.

Crab- walking away from the man as he slowly entered the room Dojima begged, "Wait… don't kill me please. Take her, she's downstairs."

"I intend to," Jiraiya's shadow clone responded to the cowering man.

"Then… you have no reason to kill me right… I'll even make you a rich man just take her and leave."

"Tell me. If a man threatened to cut out your heart would you just let him walk away?" The clone asked and using the majority of its chakra stamped the ground with its foot causing the walls and floor to turn a fleshy pink.

Dojima watched as the clone disappeared in smoke, and pulled himself to his feet finding it difficult as the flesh feeling floor resisted his effort. Walking towards the door, he felt something shift and looking behind him noticed the room being swallowed as the flesh began to expand. Fearing being crushed he began running down the hall and reached the top of the stairs to find the path already blocked. As the esophagus of the great, fire-breathing toad from Mount Myōboku closed in around him. Dojima only had enough time to scream before being swallowed and digested in the stomach of said toad.

* * *

Jiraiya stumbled but knew it wasn't from blood loss as he tried to carry Tsunade on his back to the village Naruto and the others were at after reaching the mainland. Guessing the blade that cut him had been poisoned, he really wished he had paid more attention when Tsunade had tried to teach him about such stuff. As the sun began to rise over the ocean his strength finally left him causing him to fall face first into the dirt.

As the darkness tried to claim him, Jiraiya though feeling Tsunade's weight on his back thought, "_Heh, I always kind of wanted to die with Tsunade on top of me. Although, I would have preferred it being in bed_." Wanting to gaze on her face one last time, he tried to turn but couldn't find the strength so as his vision faded to black smiled thinking, "_Typical, always with me but just out of reach._" As he lost consciousness he only hoped that Tsunade would make the most of her second lease on life and not allow his death to push her further down the path she had been traveling.

* * *

Tsunade felt an insistent nudging of her head as she was pulled from her slumber. Hearing the relieved oink of Tonton as she began to rouse she said, "Wa…Tonton, where am I?" Feeling something tickling her cheek, she saw the white hair of Jiraiya so leapt back onto her backside. Still drowsy she touched her cheek feeling something wet and looking at her hands found they were covered in blood. Going wide eyed as her hemophobia kicked in, she stared off into space as she began to shake uncontrollably.

Hearing a weak wheezing couch she managed to look down at Jiraiya and saw she had probably picked up the blood from a wound on his chest. But while that could explain his pale complexion the fact that there wasn't a large pool beneath him and that the wound had clotted told her it wasn't the reason for it. As she watched her teammate slowly take a turn for the worse in front of her something inside her screamed at her to get off her ass and do something about it.

Pushing past her fear, she got to her knees and rolled Jiraiya onto his back. Placing her hand against his head and finding him burning up she suspected that he had been poisoned. Searching Jiraiya's jacket pocket she pulled out a gourd and pulling the stopper found it filled with sake. Summoning chakra to her hand in a ball she pulled the liquid out with it and pressing the liquor to the wound it disappeared as it ran through his blood. As Jiraiya hissed in pain, she held him down as she began extracting the poison using liquor as a bonding agent. Once she extracted what she could, she analyzed it and finding it to be a slow working poison sat up to survey her surroundings. Guessing she was still near the Tea Country border she said, "Tonton, I need you to bring me some angel trumpets."

The piglet took off racing through the woods to follow through with her order. Tsunade didn't doubt Tonton would succeed since her strong sense of smell had been one of the reasons that she had her as a pet. Focusing on her patient, who although now free of a majority of the poison was still in need of the antidote, she felt tears enter her vision as she said, "Don't you dare die on me, Jiraiya."

Cutting his shirt away using chakra she exposed his wound and set about healing it ignoring the blood that now coated her hands. Hearing Tonton's approach though she quickly sterilized her hands using some of the remaining sake before she pulled out a notebook filled with Jiraiya's writing from another of his pockets. Guessing it to be one of the annoying notepads he always scribbled into when peeking on women she found a blank page and pulling it from the pad wrapped it around one of the bell shaped flowers. Crushing it easily in her hand, she poured the powder into the gourde to mix it with the sake inside. Bringing it to his lips she tipped it back and then made sure he swallowed the medicine.

Tsunade then returned to healing the wound and noticed the color returning to his skin as the antidote cleared his system of the poison that remained. After his wound was fully healed she ran her hand along the repaired skin causing him to giggle as he sleepily whispered, "Heh-heh that tickles."

Hearing the sound caused the flood of tears that she had been holding back to fall as she allowed the joy she felt to show through. Her head fell into his chest as she let her emotions run wild for a moment. After several minutes she got ahold of herself glad that after so many failures when it mattered most to her that there was finally a success, she wiped her eyes and standing picked Jiraiya up over her shoulders saying, "Let's get you home," before heading back to the village she assumed his charges and Shizune were waiting.


	12. Chapter 12 The Test

**An:** Sorry for the long wait for the chapter but some equipment problems hindered my ability to write. Not to mention work and life in general, but on the bright side I've update the computer so should at least be able to get back to a monthly release schedule for this and Demon's Path. Again thank those who take the time to review as always your humble author, S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.**

**Chapter 12: The Test**

Tsunade knew she was garnering lots of confused looks as she walked through the village with Jiraiya's unconscious from being carried over her shoulders. She was also keenly aware that quite a few of the looks were probably aware she had destroyed the casino as they seemed to be asking the question, "What has she done now?"

Ignoring them as best she could, Tsunade made her way towards the hotel that she knew Jiraiya and his charges had been checked into. Although she knew there was a chance that they had already checked out and were on their way to Konoha it appeared to not be the case as she approached the hotel and saw Naruto leaving the building as he dragged an obviously protesting Shizune by the hand.

She was near enough to hear as Naruto said, "Come on Shizune. The Pervy Sage might need our help."

"Naruto, I assure you Lord Jiraiya is more than capable of handling himself." Shizune stopped though as she noticed. Her apprentice must have known the danger she had been in as tears began to enter her vision. With the relief she felt evident in her voice she shouted, "Lady Tsunade," before quickly closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around her teacher.

Tsunade smiled tenderly as Shizune cried her relief into her shirt although she was unable to return the hug due to her grip on Jiraiya. "There, there Shizune. As you can see I'm fine."

Shizune pulled back smiling weakly and was about to say something when Naruto said coolly, "What've you done to Pervy Sage." Shizune's eyes widened as if noticing Jiraiya for the first time and seeing some blood still coated Tsunade couldn't keep the surprise from her voice as she said, "Lady Tsunade, the blo…"

"Its fine Shizune," Tsunade said as she stared away from the two genin giving her dark stares. Explaining what she knew she said, "Jiraiya saved me from a bad situation but was hurt in the process. Now which way to his room he needs to rest."

"I'll show you," Shizune said quickly leading the way past the two teens that continued to glare at the Slug Sannin. Following Shizune to his room she laid him done and quickly stripped him of most of his dirty clothes. Tsunade tried not to blush as she stared at Jiraiya's chiseled frame which showed he still was living the active life of a shinobi. Moving to the sink, Tsunade cleaned the remaining blood from her hands before returning to his bed just as Shizune placed a bowl and a rag on the nightstand next to it.

Shizune began to dip the rag into the bowl to clean Jiraiya but Tsunade stopped her saying, "I'll handle it, Shizune." Shizune nodded before handing her the rag and began heading to the door. Just as Shizune began to turn the handle to leave Tsunade said, "Shizune…I'm sorry about everything."

Shizune turned to face her saying, "There's nothing to be sorry about Lady Tsunade. I'm just relieved you are safe."

Her apprentice quickly left the room and so turning to face her teammate who was only wearing a pair of boxers whispered, "Don't get any funny ideas about this," despite his being unconscious still.

Although used to giving sponge baths due to her time in the hospital Tsunade did admit that at times the one she was currently giving Jiraiya may have been pushing the lines of professionalism as sometimes her hands would linger in spots longer than necessary. She was running the rag over his chest again when she noticed that his eyes were open and staring at her.

"I must be dead," he said in all seriousness.

Tsunade smiled gently at him before replying, "No, not yet." Jiraiya tried to sit up but Tsunade placed a hand on his chest saying, "Don't. You still need to rest."

Jiraiya couldn't argue with her still feeling as if he had been caught peeping by a horde of angry women who had taken self-defense classes taught by Tsunade so relaxed. Once he did so she removed her hand and began dunking the rag in the bowl to avoid looking at Jiraiya as she asked, "How did you know I was in trouble?"

Jiraiya chuckled saying, "My apprentice isn't the type to give up. He created a clone to keep tabs on you for his next attempt to bring you back."

Tsunade was surprised she hadn't noticed being followed, but got over the embarrassment quickly in order to ask the question she really wanted to know the answer too, "Why'd you come after me? We both know the minute I took off you would have been well within your right to leave me to my fate."

Jiraiya was a little surprised by the question and almost replied with a light-hearted remark about her owing him money. However from the way her brown eyes stared at his face unwavering he knew she needed a real reason so said, "We've been through a lot together and while mission wise, you're right I could have left you to that fate. As a man and your teammate, I'd never do such a thing so long as there was a hope you'd rediscover the woman that I lo…used to remember." Tsunade stared wide-eyed at him and Jiraiya really hoped she hadn't noticed his slip but if she did he knew the perfect way to get her focus off the conversation so said, "By the way I couldn't help but notice you missed a spot."

Tsunade brow furrowed in confusion until she followed his eyes down and realizing he was talking about the area beneath his boxers felt a vein threaten to burst in her skull. "Jiraiya," she said dangerously as she stood fighting the urge to pummel him. Tossing the rag in his face she walked towards the door saying over her shoulder, "You're awake handle it yourself."

"Where's the fun in that," he called after her just as she slammed the door. Watching the door for several minutes he found a notepad and began scribbling in it as he thought up a new scenario for his newest book using it as an escape since in that world the hero always got the girl.

* * *

Tsunade continued to grumble about perverts and ruining touching moments but stopped as she came face to face with a fellow blond who was standing in the hall defiantly with his arms crossed. Standing to his side although appearing nervous despite the glare she was sending Tsunade's way was Sakura. Confused as to what the genin wanted, she asked, "Can I help you?"

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked challengingly.

"What's it to you?"

"If you think you're leaving this hotel for anywhere but Konoha think again," Naruto said his demeanor showing he wasn't bluffing.

Tsunade for her part had to admit she was impressed by the boy's spirit even if the way he was talking to her raised her hackles a little. Shaking her head though as her amusement far outweighed her annoyance since she couldn't believe the kid honestly thought that he could do better than he had the last time they clashed. However, she decided to put his mind at ease saying, "Fine, I'll go back to Konoha."

"Really," both genin said surprised although Sakura's tone made it clear she didn't believe the woman.

"Okay," Naruto said his entire demeanor changing as he turned on his heel heading to the lobby of the inn. "Now that that's settled I'm going to get some training in."

"Wait Naruto," Sakura called after her teammate, "you believe her."

Naruto stopped and said, "Why shouldn't I? She said before she wasn't going to go and she didn't. Now she's agreed to so I have no reason to think she won't follow through."

"Really, what about all the people she's defrauded," Sakura said. "I'm pretty sure they expected her to honor her commitment to pay them back."

"Yeah, but she healed Pervy Sage and brought him here. If she really didn't want to go back to Konoha she could have just left him lying on the road somewhere." Sakura still didn't look convinced so Naruto said, "She might be an old woman that likes to drink and gamble but that a least proves to me that she's not all bad. She hasn't broken Kakashi-sensei's rule about abandoning teammates."

"Hey…" Tsunade started to protest about the negative things he had said but it was apparent Naruto was convinced of his logic as he began running to start his training. Looking at his teammate, the Sannin said, "Look Sakura, about before I'm…" However instead of listening the pinkette turned to follow after the blond. Not sure why the girl not liking her was bothering her, Tsunade decided to try and make amends for tricking her.

* * *

"Ah Kabuto, I trust you have something good to report," Orochimaru said to his spy who had broken away from his team that was patrolling the Sound/Fire border. Of course his team wouldn't report him as missing since they were also loyal to the Snake Sannin so it made it easy for Kabuto to not only report to his master but also meet with the young man they were trying to lure away from Konoha.

Kabuto knelt in front of Orochimaru before saying, "He's accepted my Lord. He's also provided me with the details of his mission so we'll be able to easily extract him when the time comes."

"Excellent Kabuto," the Sannin said from his throne, "Tell me, how do you plan to go about handling it?"

"Well his mission is to help a defecting Grass-nin to escape to Konoha. I figure we'll let them succeed up to a certain point. However we wouldn't want it to be too easy for them so I've taken the liberty of informing the Head Council of Grass one of their kunoichi intends to defect."

"You aren't trying to betray me now are you Kabuto? It would be a shame should Sasuke die in this mission."

Kabuto pushed up his glasses before saying amused, "Nothing of the sort, Grass doesn't have anyone of Kakashi's skill so I believe at best they will slow him down and wear him down a little. Once they have their objective though I believe they'll want to escape to Fire Country as quickly as possible and there are only several avenues they can avail themselves of to escape that way."

"Ah, I'm beginning to see where you are going with this. But tell me how do you plan to handle Kakashi? Unless you or I go, I doubt't anyone else will be able to handle even a worn down Kakashi"

"There's no need for either of us to handle Kakashi, I planned to use him," Kabuto replied smirking at his master, "There's nothing I can do for him at this point and I'm sure he'll be more than happy to sacrifice himself for your new vessel."

"Alright then, give my regards to Kimimaro then," Orochimaru replied amused at how Kabuto seemed to enjoy manipulating the Kaguya's loyalty.

Kabuto stood to head to his lab where the sick boy laid to say the necessary things so that even though he had no chance of living afterwards the young man would certainly be more than enough to delay Kakashi so that Sasuke could safely reach the borders of Sound.

* * *

Sakura stood poised to throw some shuriken at a tree. Naruto was deeper in the woods at the moment in order to concentrate on mastering the Rasengan to Jiraiya's wishes. Finding his failed attempts more than a little distracting she had opted to find a quiet area herself to practice her shuriken techniques. Just as she threw the shuriken Tsunade stepped out from a bush in front of her although far enough that she wasn't endanger. When two distinct 'thunks' were heard, she could tell that Tsunade had been surprised that she had thrown two shuriken.

Tsunade did a double take of the two shuriken with one being buried just beneath the second before coming to the conclusion the second shuriken had been hiding in the shadow of the first. "Pretty impressive," the Sannin said to which Sakura responded with a non-committal grunt. Tsunade frowned before saying, "Sakura, I'm sorry alright. I was wrong to trick you like that…"

"Why are you apologizing to me," Sakura said retrieving her shuriken.

"Because of how I got you plastered," Tsunade replied confused at the girl's question.

"I don't care about that," Sakura replied turning to find a new spot in order to get away from the Sannin.

"It's pretty obvious you do," Tsunade replied causing the girl to stop.

Sakura turned to glare at the woman saying, "Really so you're a mind reader now. I don't even understand why you care what I think. It's pretty obvious all you care about is yourself."

"Now look here," Tsunade said her temper flaring. "I'm trying to apologize. I don't even know why you're this upset it's not like I…"

"Beat the crap out of my teammate," Sakura cut in angrily, "Or mocked his dreams."

"Look I might have roughed him up a little but why are you so bent out of shape? The kid's not even mad anymore as far as I can tell."

If anything her dismissing her treatment of Naruto made the pink-haired girl even angrier as she said, "That's because he's special…he doesn't hold a grudge like most people."

Tsunade smiled before saying, "Ah, I see you're sweet on him."

Sakura blushed and to Tsunade's surprise the girl said, "Yes, that's why I can't stand how you trashed his dreams of being Hokage."

"Trust me, if you do like him the last thing you want is him chasing that dream."

Sakura's anger faded slightly as Tsunade's words chilled her. Looking away she said, "Even if you feel that way it doesn't give you the right to talk about him the way you did."

Tsunade scowled at the girl not exactly sure why she felt her anger ratcheting up at her response but trying to remain calm said, "You're young so don't know the costs chasing after the title Hokage comes with. It's better if he just gives up."

"You might be right," Sakura said finally after a long silence but as she met the Sannin's eyes she noticed a smile appearing on Tsunade's face which faded as she added, "But then he wouldn't be Naruto."

Tsunade's anger peaked as she yelled, "And what good does that do him if he's dead? He's probably only hoping to be Hokage to be popular or something. The best thing you can do for him is to convince him to give up that stupid dream."

Sakura's smile faded in the face of Tsunade's anger and she was about to respond just as heatedly till she recalled the day when Team Seven first formed and they told each other their dreams. Breaking eye contact as she remembered how Naruto said, "_My dream is to be Hokage so people will stop always disrespecting me._" Sakura paused for a moment but then her smile grew bigger as her green eyes found Tsunade's again as she said, "That doesn't change the fact that he'll be a great Hokage and I believe in him."

Without missing a beat Tsunade replied, "Your belief in him will be cold comfort when he's lying dead in your arms," as she thought of her own experiences with the man and brother she had loved and who had died chasing after the title Hokage.

Again Sakura felt chilled by the older woman's words and had a sensation as if she was staring in a mirror for a moment. Shaking it off, she supposed her feeling was due to Tsunade being a possible reflection of her if things went wrong in her life. As she was beginning to realize that everything Tsunade had become had been a result of losing people precious to her and that they had shared Naruto's dream. Therefore Sakura said her voice filled with sympathy for the older woman, "I…I can't really argue with you on this. Anything I say will just be words to you because you've faced it and had to live with the consequences. But I don't think you can argue against the fact that whatever else you loved about the person whose death hurt you so, at some point you believed they'd make a great Hokage."

Tsunade's hand reached for the necklace around her neck as her mouth opened and closed as she tried to refute the statement. However Sakura didn't give her the chance as she gave a small sad smile before heading deeper into the woods where Naruto was training. Holding the crystal of her necklace so she could see it she remembered giving it to Dan and Nawaki.

Feeling her eyes tear up at the memories, she was caught off-guard by Jiraiya as he said, "You seem pretty invested in trying to get her to convince Naruto to stop chasing his dream. Any reason in particular?"

Wiping her eyes quickly as she kept her back to her fellow Sannin she deflected his question by saying, "Don't you usually sneak up on women near sources of water?"

Chuckling in amusement, Jiraiya said, "Depends of the woman."

Scoffing although she felt a small smile threaten to appear she said, "You should be resting."

"Plenty of time for that when I'm dead, I heard from Shizune you're returning to Konoha."

Tsunade nodded her head and again kept her face stoic as a grin split Jiraiya's own in order to hide just how glad she was to see his smile. Jiraiya began walking in the direction Sakura retreated although a little stiffly so she asked, "Where are you going?"

"To give the kids some pointers in their training."

Tsunade stepped in front of him though saying, "I meant what I said about you needing rest. I'll go watch over their training."

Raising an eyebrow Jiraiya asked, "You sure?"

"Go, or if you want I can drag you back and tie you to the bed."

"Sounds fun," Jiraiya replied but quickly complied with her order when he saw the familiar vein appear on her forehead signifying how close he was from being on the receiving end of her fists.

Sighing in annoyance at her teammate's antics she began heading deeper into the woods, while wondering why she was so interested in Sakura.

* * *

Sakura's kick was intercepted as Naruto raised his hands to block it from connecting with the side of his head. He then grabbed her ankle, and pushed her back. Sakura stumbled back several steps before needing to block herself as Naruto went on the offensive. As she avoided or blocked his blows and despite her being the one that had asked for the sparring match, she was forced to admit her heart wasn't really in it since her mind was still going over all Tsunade had said.

It was something Naruto noticed as he stopped attacking to ask, "What's wrong Sakura? You seem a thousand miles away." When Sakura didn't reply instead giving him a grim smile he said, "Its okay, you don't have to tell me."

Replying quickly as Naruto turned away she said, "Sorry, I was just distracted by something Tsunade said to me." Naruto nodded and since she seemed to no longer be interested in sparring was about to begin trying to master a one handed Rasengan like he had been when she had interrupted him in order to ask him to spar with her. He stopped though as she asked, "Naruto would you mind telling me what first made you want to be Hokage?"

Naruto was obviously surprised by her question, but nevertheless answered, "No, I don't mind." Dropping to his rear, with Sakura following suit he said, "It was my fifth birthday when I decided I was going to be Hokage."

"Really, I half expected you to say you were born with that desire," she teased.

Naruto smiled at her before replying, "Well it might have been if I had actually known what a Hokage was before then. I was only five years old and even though the Old Man would visit me and the other kids at the orphanage he never really talked about how important he was." Naruto's smile faded as he said, "Well even at the orphanage I was pretty lonely and people always tried to ignore me even on my birthday. The Old Man would always stop by to drop a gift off, but that year he took me out for ramen." Naruto's face took on a look between both the happiness of having someone like the Hokage in his life and the pain of being ignored by everyone else as he said, "It really stuck with me the way everyone looked at the Old Man. I mean everyone saw him and they looked at him with such reverence it was kind of hard for me to process why. I guess since everyone always tried to ignore me I figured that if I could be like him then everyone would finally start paying attention to me. So when we ordered our ramen and Teuchi called him Lord Hokage I asked him what that was. He explained to me what the Hokage was and I just sort of blurted out that he needed to watch himself because one day I was going to become the Hokage that replaced him."

Sakura could easily picture the young Naruto telling the Third Hokage, who had once been called the Professor, how he was going to take his place. She could also see the kindly old man being pleased by Naruto's desire to become Hokage. However in light of Tsunade's own pain and disdain for the title feared Naruto's whimsical desire to be Hokage wouldn't survive the cruel reality's earning the title seemed to inflict on people.

Her concerns were somewhat calmed as Naruto unaware of her thoughts said, "You know it's funny. I wanted the title to just be noticed. Even as short a time ago as when we first became Team Seven. Now though I understand why everyone looked at the Old Man the way they did. It's because no matter how bad things get the villagers know that they can count on him. In light of that it sort of makes my reason seem pretty pathetic, but now I realize that a person becomes Hokage so he can protect those precious to him. Of course since he's the Hokage that means everyone is precious to him and they know that which is why they look at him the way they do. Now that I know that, I understand I'm going to have to become amazingly strong to become Hokage."

Standing and now really pumped up due to his reconfirming his desire to be Hokage, Naruto began to walk towards a tree where he had been practicing his Rasengan. Sakura though stood as well and with her mind put at ease about Naruto's chances of fulfilling his dream asked, "Where are you going? We aren't finished yet."

Naruto turned to her and seeing that her worries seemed to have been banished smiled at his story seemingly putting her in a happier mood. Dropping into his stance he waited for her to do so as well before engaging her.

* * *

As the two genin pushed each other they both were unaware that their conversation had been overheard by Tsunade, who walked away not wanting to disturb the two or allow her own conflicting feelings to ruin the moment between them. Walking back to the inn, she couldn't help but marvel at how Nawaki and Naruto were so similar to each other. Or how they both shared the same dream for what appeared to be similar reasons.

But as she thought about it she supposed she shouldn't be surprised especially in light of what Sakura had said about how at one point she had believed that Nawaki and Dan would make great Hokage. Lost in thought as she was, she thought she was walking aimlessly but soon found herself standing in front of the door to Jiraiya's room. Knocking on the door she didn't wait for a reply before entering and found him in the process of trying to get back to his bed without alerting her.

"Jiraiya," she said threateningly as her fellow Sannin's eyes went wide with fear.

"Now princess," he said holding up his hands, "I was resting but just sitting in bed when I'm not tired is boring so I thought I'd do a little writing that's all."

"Fine, whatever," Tsunade replied calmly since as far as injuries went she knew he'd suffered much worse in his life.

"Everything alright, those brats didn't run you off did they?" he asked as he sat at the edge of his bed. Crossing his arms he added, "Because if I know Naruto he's still out there training since there's still light outside."

Tsunade sighed as she replied sadly, "I never let them know I was there. I thought I'd watch them a bit but then they took a break."

Jiraiya nodded but didn't ask why as he figured that one way or the other Naruto's dream of being Hokage had been brought up due to Tsunade's current emotional state. He watched his old teammate as she took the seat at the desk he had just vacated as she seemed to collect herself before she asked him, "How is it you have no problem with his pursuing that title? Of the four that had held it only Sarutobi-sensei has managed to live past a handful of years." Looking at her hands she added in almost a whisper, "Not to mention all those who died chasing after it."

"True," Jiraiya said his tone solemn as the death of Minato was still a bitter memory. Meeting Tsunade's eyes he smiled sadly as he added, "But it was through those deaths that so many more get to live today and I know that each of the Hokage met their end bravely and although some may have had some regrets knew their actions served a greater purpose."

"A small comfort to those they leave behind," Tsunade replied bitter-sweetly.

"Maybe, but we can sit here to talk about these things only because of their sacrifices. I simply choose to remember that it's through their actions that there is a Konoha for a new Hokage to be chosen."

"It doesn't lessen the pain I feel or the pain she will should Naruto end up dying while chasing that dream."

"I know," Jiraiya said pleased that Tsunade seemed to be taking such an interest in Sakura, "But all I can do is train him so that he can meet the many challenges he will face. But there is one thing I think you are forgetting."

"What's that?"

"Dan and Nawaki didn't die because they wanted to become Hokage. They died because they were shinobi. I know you believe that necklace around your neck is cursed, but it isn't and it may sound cold blooded of me to say this but even if they hadn't shared that dream there is a good chance they still would not be here today."

"You can't know that."

"You're right of course," Jiraiya replied with a grim smile, "Just like I can't know if Naruto will live to see his dream through to the end, or if he'll become another life that you believed to have been claimed by the title of Hokage. But I have faith in him and I will continue to have it until reality proves me right or wrong."

Standing Tsunade said, "You are a fool Jiraiya. Your faith in Orochimaru didn't pan out, now did it?"

"No you are right about that," Jiraiya said a little offended but understanding that the current conversation tended to make Tsunade harsher than usual. "Still wasn't it you who told me then there was a chance he might one day rediscover the man we thought him to be."

Tsunade looked away and despite her being the one that brought it up said, "Still it's hardly the same thing."

Jiraiya smiled at her as he replied, "That's where you are wrong. Faith is simply believing in something despite there being no evidence to support it. Sometimes it lets us down and sometimes it meets and exceeds our expectations. Mark my words the kid's definitely going to be the latter. He has the most important quality anyone chasing a dream needs."

"And that would be?"

"The will to never give up."

As Tsunade met Jiraiya's determined gaze and despite her own past history found herself hoping that Jiraiya's faith would be rewarded.

* * *

"Come on, come on," Naruto said as he pushed Jiraiya towards the door of the inn.

"Hey relax, let me digest breakfast a little," Jiraiya protested.

Sakura following behind smiled at the two especially as Naruto said, "You had plenty time to digest yesterday so no slacking today."

"I was following the doctor's orders," Jiraiya replied, "Besides I was poisoned how about a little sympathy."

Sakura smiled as Naruto ignored the Toad Sannin's remarks in favor of pushing him towards the door again. It faded slightly as she noticed Tsunade falling into step with her causing her to ask, "Where are you going?"

"Jiraiya asked me to look in on your training," Tsunade replied, "I thought I'd oblige him and see if you have as much potential as he claims."

Sakura was surprised by the Toad Sage's behind the scenes praise, but her cheeks went rosy as Naruto chimed in his opinion saying, "You bet Sakura has potential so you better be set to be impressed." A warm feeling began to grow in the pit of her stomach but as Naruto managed to get Jiraiya out the door she felt it turn to a lump of ice as she saw who was waiting for them outside.

"Yo," Kakashi said giving his other two charges a smile as he held up his hand in greeting. A small dog in a jacket and headband was near his feet while Sasuke watched them out of the corner of his eye not even bothering to say hello.

Naturally, Sakura was pleased to see her teacher as was Naruto but her feeling of dread was from their teammate who was watching them coolly in what she perceived to be a judging manner, as if to gauge whether or not he could defeat them.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto exclaimed happily apparently oblivious of their teammate's cool reception. "What are you doing here?"

"An excellent question," Jiraiya said coolly which surprised Sakura until she noticed his gaze quickly switch to Sasuke for a moment.

"Sorry, I know we discussed this mission to retrieve Lady Tsunade was meant to remain a secret." Kakashi said carefully which Sakura believed was meant for Sasuke's benefit. "However the Hokage was most insistent that Naruto was needed for my team's next mission."

As she watched Sasuke stand next to Kakashi never even bothering to face them or take his hands out of his pockets, Sakura was surprised he didn't have any type of reaction to their being with Jiraiya for the several months they had been looking for Tsunade. Especially due to the way his head whipped towards Kakashi upon hearing how integral Naruto was supposed to be to the mission they had been assigned.

"Is it because the Hokage knows what an awesome ninja I've become these past couple of months," Naruto asked causing Sasuke's gaze to turn towards the blond and his eyes to narrow much as Sakura would have expected from the get go.

Kakashi chuckled saying, "Not that I am aware of. Mainly the reason is because you helped convince the kunoichi we are supposed to extract to defect so she'll recognize you."

Hearing that Sakura couldn't help her own eyes narrowing as she began to suspect who they were supposed to help defect. "Really," she said icily which she noticed caused Naruto to shiver in part due to her gaze resting on his back, "And who would that be?"

"A kunoichi by the name of Karin," Kakashi answered either unaware of the way his own kunoichi team member reacted to the name or amused by it since his jovial tone never wavered. "In any case," Kakashi continued on, "With Naruto present it should be a simple matter since she is apparently a sensor so as soon as Naruto approaches the village she should suspect something is up."

Although not exactly pleased at who they were going to get, Sakura did feel a small amount of relief as Sasuke's gaze returned to its normal uncaring one due to Naruto's role simply being to act as a beacon of sorts. Sighing at the fact that her and Naruto's talk would also be postponed she asked, "So when do we leave?"

"Immediately," Kakashi replied, "Grass is just about a five day journey from here. We might make it six to get reacquainted as a team but I'm not expecting this to be a long drawn out mission."

Sakura nodded as she began to head in to collect her things for some reason strangely apprehensive about the mission. Some of her concern faded though as Naruto following after her placed a hand on her shoulder saying, "Don't worry Sakura I haven't forgotten about our talk and once this mission is out of the way I promise we'll have it."

Sakura smiled but couldn't shake the feeling that things weren't going to go nearly as smoothly as Kakashi believed.

* * *

Sakura watched the match between Sasuke and Naruto closely as her two teammates sparred with one another. As she had expected the reunion had been more than a little awkward since she really had no idea how to talk to Sasuke now. Naruto didn't share her problem since he had often pestered Sasuke about what Kakashi had taught him in the intervening months. But Sasuke never really answered and that coupled with the fact that he seemed disinterested in the fact that Naruto and she had spent the time learning from a Sannin bothered her.

Sakura sighed before concentrating again on the match since she hadn't fared very well when she had been paired against Sasuke. Spending a moment to look at Kakashi, she understood that one reason Sasuke was sparring against both her and Naruto was due to his having spent a greater time with Kakashi so knew what to expect from him. But as Sasuke sent Naruto tumbling to the ground she couldn't help but feel another reason for the matches now that they were a half-day from Grass Country's border was to allow the Uchiha a chance to see that the Jounin could train him as good as Jiraiya could Naruto. Seeing the self-satisfied smirk that was beginning to appear on Sasuke's face along with the almost apologetic one on Kakashi's almost confirmed it for her.

Having spent the months sparring with Naruto, she couldn't help but notice that the blond's timing was off. Not a great deal but just enough that he telegraphed what he was going to do. Guessing it might be a genjutsu that Sasuke was casting with the help of the Sharingan she knelt behind Naruto and helping him stand she whispered into his ear, "Create some clones and feint from the front but make sure to attack from the side or behind."

It made her smile that Naruto didn't even question her why instead after standing he made three clones. The sudden appearance of the clones caused Kakashi to stand straighter as he said, "Naruto, this is a sparring match. No ninjutsu."

Naruto was about to dispel them when Sakura said, "Kakashi-sensei you said this was a chance to see what we've learned during the mission with Jiraiya. Naruto's taijutsu did improve but he really needs the clones to show you by just how much."

From the way Kakashi fretted over the decision to let the clones stay it proved to her that her hypothesis was right. Feeling a little angry that the Jounin was massaging Sasuke's ego at the expense of Naruto's, she was about to accuse him of that when the matter was settled by the Uchiha who said, "Let him use the clones. It won't change anything."

Sakura couldn't help the triumphant smirk that appeared on her face, but it faded due to the worried one that appeared on Kakashi's masked visage. Realizing she had in a sense trapped Kakashi now due to the fact that if he told Naruto to still get rid of the clones it would make Sasuke feel as if he hadn't faced his male teammate at his best. She also realized due to the open concern Kakashi wore that the reason he had stacked the deck in Sasuke's favor was because when Naruto lost he just pushed himself to do better. But for Sasuke a loss seemed to feed something darker inside the boy, something that needed to prove he was the best and wouldn't accept anything less.

Sighing Kakashi nodded his head towards Naruto letting him know the clones could stay. As Naruto and Sasuke moved across from each other the clones formed a semi-circle around Sasuke so that he could only meet one of their eyes at a time. Focusing on the one in front the Uchiha asked, "Ready to eat dirt again."

"If it happens," Naruto replied.

Sakura felt her cheeks color slightly as the Naruto lined up behind Sasuke winked at her. Figuring that one was the real Naruto, she marveled at the fact that he seemed to almost instinctually shuffle himself among the clones to get his opponents to focus on the wrong one. Lately though she found herself able to generally pick out which one was the real Naruto even when they were the ones sparring against each other. She had surprised him on more than one occasion by often attacking the real him during their spars. Truthfully, she wasn't sure how she did it but figured she was just beginning to understand Naruto's thought process.

Focusing on the clone in front of Sasuke she wondered if he knew that he was staring at a clone. She wasn't sure but she believed he did. Still as the clone facing Sasuke charged much as she expected its timing was way off compared to the Naruto's attacking from the sides and behind as it delayed its attack almost a full second longer than the others.

Sasuke took advantage of this by charging that clone whose face registered the surprise it felt that one second the Uchiha was standing still and the next he was in its face. Sasuke grabbed the clone by its shirt and tossed it directly at the Naruto who had been right behind him. Sakura felt a little smile as the clone and Naruto appeared to collide right as they were obscured by the smoke of the other two clones which Sasuke dispatched easily. The reason for her amusement was due to the clone flying from the smoke cloud and grabbing Sasuke around the waist. It spun the two of them around to disorient the Uchiha. Once Sasuke was facing the real Naruto again the blond struck and scored a direct hit to the Uchiha's chest causing him to fall back several steps.

Sakura was proud that instead of the knockout blow she knew he could deliver in such a situation that he held himself back so that their teammate only staggered back several steps. Quickly switching her gaze to Kakashi, she noticed that he seemed impressed by Naruto's teamwork with his clones. She also noticed some concern appearing on the jounin's face as Sasuke said, "Hn, figures you'd need more than three clones to score a hit against me."

"He didn't," Sakura said quickly surprising her dark-haired teammate with her frosty tone, "He simply made good use of the ones he already had. He caught the one you threw at him and simply threw it back."

Sasuke sent a glare her way which she ignored in order to congratulate her teammate. Kakashi stepped between the glare and the kunoichi saying, "Well I think it's evident that all of you have grown since we've last had a mission together. From here on out we're going to need to be at our best if we're going to cross the border undetected. Once across Naruto and I will proceed to the village while Sakura and Sasuke will guard the bridge we'll cross to get back to Fire Country."

"Isn't that a little risky Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said a little concerned not only at the idea of it just being Naruto and Kakashi approaching the village but of it being Naruto and Karin as they left, "Shouldn't we stick together in case something should go wrong."

"Normally I'd agree with you," Kakashi replied, "However Grass Country is lined with many deep ravines and bridges. If something goes bad they'll try and cut us off there. You and Sasuke will be in charge of making sure that doesn't happen." Sakura nodded although Kakashi knew she still didn't like it eye smiling at her, he added, "Don't worry Sakura. I'm rather positive we'll be able to make contact without alerting anyone." He was confused for a moment why his words didn't really comfort her until she directed a gaze towards Naruto that showed she wasn't exactly concerned with the mission per say but how it could affect her relationship with the blond. Still Kakashi knew that it wasn't his place to put her at ease so said, "Alright let's move out."

* * *

As Naruto fell in step with the rest of his team as they began leaping through the trees he spared a moment to look at Sakura. She apparently sensed his eyes on her as she turned and smiled at him. However he noticed that it was rather lacking as many of them had been since they had been assigned to the mission to help Karin leave her home village.

At first he had thought that maybe it was because it had delayed their talk. But considering that Jiraiya and Tsunade were probably taking a leisurely pace back to Konoha if anything it probably meant that if everything went smoothly they'd be arriving before they would have originally. Therefore and much to Naruto's hope it was because of Karin. Remembering how the Grass kunoichi had continuously found him, Naruto was hoping that meant Sakura was afraid she'd be facing competition for his affection. Although he liked the red-head, there was only one girl for him as far as his heart was concerned.

Deciding to see if his theory was correct, as well as testing the waters so to speak in order to see if Sakura was open to a new development in their relationship pulled up next to her. "Hey," she said although her tone was rather flat, "You must be pretty excited about the idea of sneaking into Grass."

"A little," Naruto admitted, and thought about admitting it would be good to see Karin again. However considering what he was about to ask refrained before saying, "Sakura…you know how we were going to talk once we got to Konoha."

Sakura nodded guardedly and a little anxiety appeared in her eyes making him guess she was afraid he was backing out. Rubbing his head nervously he nearly collided with a tree since he wasn't focusing on where he was going but after recovering decided to just go for it and asked, "Would you mind if we had it on a date? A date, date I mean."

Sakura was surprised by his request but it made her heart beat a little faster as well as brought a genuine smile to her face as she realized that even though they were going to collect Karin it appeared Naruto only thought of her as a friend so said, "I'd love too."

Naruto felt as if he could take on the world at that point since it appeared one of his dreams might be coming true. Falling back into his spot in the formation he began to plan where he'd take her and didn't allow the small voice in the back of his head that often accompanied the dread he felt about talking to her about the Kyuubi to dampen his mood.

* * *

Karin was beginning to fear she had been forgotten about. It had been several months since the chunin exams and still she had received no word from the Hokage. However every morning she still held out hope that her dream of relocating to the Leaf Village would come true so would activate her Mind's Eye of the Kagura to look for unfamiliar chakra signatures either already inside the village or approaching.

Slowly getting out of bed she sleepily headed to the bathroom and began brushing her teeth since she no longer bound out it as her excitement had faded. In the midst of her brushing she realized she had forgotten to scan the village that morning and for a moment almost didn't unwilling to be disappointed again. Bracing for the disappointment however she opened her ability up and almost immediately felt the powerful presence nearing the village. Feeling like a princess whose white knight was coming to rescue her from the tower; she darted from the bathroom and ran to her closet where after dressing reached into a pile of stuffed animals in the closet's corner to pull out a bag filled with the few meager possessions she wanted to bring with her.

Strapping it to her back she almost grabbed up her Grass headband but staring at it felt no attachment so let it slip from her fingers to the floor. Turning to the window she opened it spending a moment to look at the lonely apartment where she had lived most of her life. Turning her back on it she leapt from the window in order to sneak out of the village and hopefully into of the arms of the boy she had come to admire.

* * *

As Karin leapt away she did so under the watchful gaze of the tenants from a recently rented apartment across the street. One of the tenant's reached up to his throat to activate the walkie-talkie he wore to report, "We have unscheduled activity from target four. It looks like she plans to leave the village from the east."

"Shit, it had to be her. Well it looks like the tip we received is true. Alright sit put, if you try and follow her it may tip her off. We'll wait until she leaves the village to make contact with the Leaf to begin the operation." Aware that his part in the plan was over the Grass-nin switched off his mike and was just grateful he was assigned to an observation team as taking on a shinobi of Kakashi's repute was something he never wanted to do.

* * *

Kakashi didn't like the mission he had been given despite how easy it had gone thus or perhaps in spite of it. Years of experience told him that approaching a shinobi village even an allied one should not have been so easy. Granted it wasn't especially hard to get near a village since most tended to rely on their defensive walls or natural terrain to keep hostile visitors out, however during the entire trip he'd found no signs of any recent patrols in the area. To him it almost felt like they were being invited in, which had him on edge. He wondered briefly if the mission was merely a rather convoluted trap to cause an incident between Grass and Konoha. Considering Grass's reputation as masters of the political arena he didn't doubt that they'd be able to squeeze Konoha for some valuable concessions in the future if his team was caught or killed in the process.

Knowing it was too late to worry and trusting that his Hokage could read the girl's true intentions he pushed his concerns out of his mind due to their proximity to the village. He was about to give the signal to stop when he noticed a red-head leaping madly through the trees heading right for them. He was about to order Naruto to hide when he shouted, "Hey Karin overhear."

Shaking his head and wishing Jiraiya had taught the blond about stealth during their time together. Karin hadn't needed the shout to locate them however upon landing on the branch the two of them were on instead of greeting Naruto or Kakashi said worriedly, "We have to leave now."

"What is it?" Kakashi asked warily aware it could be a trap.

However if it was, he was certain Karin wasn't part of it as she looked around the forest nearly panicked. "Almost as soon as I left the village it was like a silent alarm was tripped and dozens of squads were mobilized to search for me," she replied able to feel the many shinobi descending on them. "We have to go, now! This way, it's still clear of any search parties."

Kakashi nodded aware of the girl's sensing abilities still instead of giving into the desire to flee, he said, "Hold on a moment. Naruto create three dozen clones then have twelve of them henge into me and another henge into Karin. Then form them into squads that will scatter from this point through the forest towards the Fire Country border."

"Right," Naruto said quickly following his orders.

As the clone squads formed up and began scattering Kakashi said, "Alright that should sow some confusion among those pursuing us. Karin do you think you can scout us a path to the Mushroom Forest Bridge to link up with the rest of our team?"

The former Grass-nin nodded and adjusted her glasses before saying in a calmer tone of voice, "This way."

Kakashi allowed Naruto to go first before summoning Pakkun. Although trusting in the Third's belief the girl's desire to defect was genuine only fools trusted blindly so informed the canine that he wanted him to keep his nose open to the possibility that they were being led into a trap before following the two younger shinobi as well.

* * *

Sakura was really beginning to wish she had been allowed to go with Kakashi as well. Team Seven had arrived at the Mushroom Forest Bridge, one of the many bridges which connected Fire Country to Grass, upon nightfall the previous day. Naruto and Kakashi had continued on and if they kept to the timetable then would arrive sometime early morning and considering that sunset was a few hours away she full expected them to be returning soon.

That had meant it had just been her and Sasuke for almost an entire day and while aware in the past that would have been something she dreamed of now just wished the rest of her team would hurry up. The primary reason for that was the unease she felt being around Sasuke now. Spending a moment to look at him as they sat atop one of the giant mushrooms that gave the bridge its name she wondered why her opinion of him had changed so drastically. For a moment she considered if the fact that she believed she had begun to fall in love with Naruto had something to do with it, however she quickly rejected it. She even doubted it was due to the hurtful things he had said about her at the team's formation almost seven months ago.

"_Seven months_," she thought to herself rather shocked at how little time actually passed considering all she had seen and did since becoming a part of Team Seven. A short span of time but she believed she had done most of her growing up during it and reasoned that was the cause of her being uneasy around Sasuke.

As she spared him another look and saw he was sitting at the edge of the mushroom with his hands folded across his face staring off into the distance she thought back to how she often thought how cool he looked and how she had been sure he was contemplating something deep. Now though she understood he wasn't. Instead he was simmering in anger as he thought about the only thing that truly mattered to him, the death of Itachi.

Turning her gaze back to the west where she expected her teammates to appear from she wondered briefly why Sasuke's gaze never left from the Northeast as if expecting something to appear but ignored it as being unimportant. Seeing no sign of her team, she again turned her attention inwards and felt she understood the true reason behind her unease which was Naruto and Sasuke were truly similar but it was where they differed that worried her. Both boys had lonely childhoods but where Naruto had tried to find friends and attention, Sasuke had only craved the hatred his loneliness brought about. However upon thinking that she realized it wasn't entirely true as Sasuke had craved attention as well which is why he had tolerated her and the other Academy girls' affections for him while all at the same time believing he was above it.

Another reason they were similar was because they both desired power and although at first she would have to say Naruto's reason was almost as selfish as Sasuke's. Now that Naruto was beginning to understand just how heavy a burden being Hokage was it seemed to redouble the effort he put into achieving it. Sasuke on the other hand as far as she could tell hadn't changed in the slightest; what's more she believed he would do anything to achieve that power. Even his goal of killing Itachi left her with the belief that while the young Uchiha believed he was gathering that power for some noble goal of avenging his clan he was really doing it for his own selfish reasons caused her to be concerned about what he would do after he achieved his dream. Although during Team Seven's formation he had said next he'd revive his clan and while at the time she had hoped that meant taking a wife, which she had hoped would be her, as well as starting a family. Now though with her current train of thought recognized his words could have far darker implications.

Realizing she was thinking some pretty dark things about her teammate she tried to ignore them. It proved difficult though due in part that she had come to think of Naruto and Sasuke as reflections of one another and if Naruto was all that was good that could come about despite his troubled past then it was hard to ignore that Sasuke seemed to be the bad.

Still upon thinking that Sakura realized that in a sense she may be turning into what the civilians of Konoha were to Naruto when it came to Sasuke, closed minded and intolerant. Although she had tried several times to get him to speak since Naruto and Kakashi left she had to admit she was content in her failures so figured to combat this she should try harder. Therefore in an attempt to get him to open up she said, "You've gotten really strong since we last sparred. I was hoping I'd do better."

Sasuke's eyes shifted to her for a moment before returning to stare towards the Northeast. Still she was surprised when he said, "Not strong enough."

Trying to capitalize on his response she said, "Still you managed to beat me in our spar pretty handily."

Although trying to get him to open up she had a hard time not being insulted and just ignoring him again due to his response of, "You make it sound like I shouldn't have been able too."

Ignoring her desire to lapse into silence since Sasuke had already said more to her than he had probably during the entire journey to Grass, she tried to brush off his comment by saying, "That's not what I meant. I'm just saying I wish I had shown as much improvement as you."

"Hn," Sasuke replied. Guessing he was done talking she tried to think of a new approach but was surprised when he asked, "Do you believe Naruto's become stronger than me?"

Although on one level she wasn't sure if the answer she believed in her heart was true on another she knew that even if not capable of besting Sasuke now, one day he would. Still despite her mind giving Sasuke the slight edge in ability she couldn't say no for the simple reason his "Will of Fire" wasn't nearly as strong. Another reason she hesitated to answer was because although Sasuke wasn't facing her she believed that his face held a barely contained anger at the idea the Academy's dead last student may not only have caught up to him but very well may have surpassed him.

As a result she kept her answer uncommitted as she said, "That's kind of hard to answer from just one spar."

"Yet you seemed to believe that I couldn't beat him if he used his clones," Sasuke replied a hint of anger entering his voice as his body began to tense.

"That's not true," Sakura replied quickly, "It's just I didn't think it was fair that Naruto wasn't getting to use something he had been working on while you weren't handicapped against using the Sharingan. Naruto incorporated his clones into his fighting style just like you did your dojutsu. I didn't know he would win but I did know he'd do better."

"Barely, but I do admit I shouldn't ha…"

"Kami, can't you just admit he's grown as a shinobi," Sakura snapped as she stood up suddenly to yell at him unable to take Sasuke's dismissal of all the hard work Naruto had put in to achieve his current level. "Seriously how does Naruto being better change anything in your life and if it does bother you then work harder to surpass him."

"So you do believe he's better than me," Sasuke replied angrily standing to face her as his glare filled Sakura with an uneasy feeling like looking into the cold unblinking eyes of a serpent.

"I answered you honestly," Sakura replied though despite her unease as her temper kept her from being intimidated, "But if you want to know who I believe has the greater potential then Naruto beats you hands down."

Sasuke's face twisted into a mask of jealousy and rage to which Sakura believed was her first glimpse of the man that had always been behind the calm and collected boy in the Academy. She realized that in truth Sasuke just had never been really pushed before. Granted he was driven to achieve his goal but ever since the Academy none of the other kids that would become genin could ever match up to him. As a result he had come to believe he was well on his way to challenging Itachi. But that all changed upon graduation and being paired with Naruto. She believed it was because it was easy to see that Naruto had set surpassing Sasuke as one of his goals. Sasuke must have been aware of this as well so upon seeing Naruto actually stood a chance of succeeding; it called into question all that he had come to believe about his own chances of killing Itachi.

Again Sakura was struck by the similarity between the two boys as each was jealous of the other but where Naruto applied it to working harder to achieve his goal of surpassing Sasuke. The Uchiha however channeled his into his anger causing him to push the world away and as a result blamed others for his own lack of progress.

Her reading of Sasuke seemed true as he mockingly said, "And why the sudden belief in Naruto, Sakura? Is it because he pays attention to you?"

"No Sasuke," she replied her voice mixing with the contempt she was beginning to feel for the Uchiha as well as the warm emotions speaking of Naruto filled her with, "It's because I've been paying attention to him. You could stand to learn a thing or two from him as well."

"What could I stand to learn from him," Sasuke sneered barely able to contain his desire to attack Sakura. Only the fact that he was told a Sound team was to link up with him to delay Kakashi prevented him from simply giving into the anger that was quickly overwhelming him.

"Compassion and forgiveness are just two," Sakura said quickly. "Don't you see the reason you are falling behind is because you won't let us help you get better. Naruto didn't improve overnight but was open to receiving help to become better."

"I suppose then you believe if I forgive Itachi then everything will just fall into place and weaklings like you and Naruto will help me be a better man."

"Only you can become that Sasuke. But maybe with friends the world wouldn't look like such a dark and foreboding place. Besides you aren't after Itachi for anyone but you no matter what you've told yourself. The only person that will feel better after you kill Itachi is you Sasuke."

Sasuke's glare hardened if such a thing was possible but his eyes drifted past her as a cold smile appeared on his face while he said, "You know what your problem is Sakura. You think you can sit here and judge me, but you've never had anything you've cherished ripped from you." Sasuke looked down at his hands as he flashed through several hand-signs and as the area filled with the chirping of birds Sakura took a step back as she met his Sharingan when he looked up. Before she could even defend herself, he charged holding his powerful electrical jutsu back as if to jam it into her chest. However, he leapt over her at the last second causing her to spin to see that he hadn't been aiming for her at all but upon seeing who he had felt her world shatter as Sasuke buried his fist in his target's chest.

* * *

It was clear to Kakashi that Naruto didn't understand why he had summoned the small dog in light of the fact they had Karin with them. Still he was glad that it turned out he had merely been overly cautious due to both Pakkun and Karin almost at the same time shouted out warnings that they were surrounded.

Kakashi could hear the confusion in Naruto's voice at how it had happened as he shouted while dodging a kunai, "How'd they get around us so suddenly?"

"They didn't," Kakashi replied pulling his headband up to reveal the Sharingan, "The search parties deliberately left holes in their formations that they knew we'd exploit to lead us into an ambush team." Avoiding a sword swing, he kicked the man away and followed up with a fire jutsu that incinerated him as well as caused several of his fellow Grass-nin to scatter. Taking advantage of the opening, he motioned both Naruto and Karin to follow him through before turning to face the reassembled group. Looking over his shoulder at the two genin he said, "Naruto, I want you and Karin to continue on ahead. We're close enough to the others that you shouldn't need to concern yourself with another ambush team since they could know for sure which holes we'd exploit so need to account for other directions."

"What! No way Kakashi-sensei we aren't leaving you."

"Naruto, part of being a shinobi is knowing when to take orders in order to accomplish the mission. My job as your teacher is to insure that my students are safe as well. Have you ever heard the story of how the Third Hokage was chosen?" When Naruto shook his head no, Kakashi smiled saying, "Have Sakura tell you sometime."

"Tell me yourself after the mission," Naruto said but knowing his teacher was serious grabbed Karin's hand and began leading her away.

Surprised the Grass-nin were making no effort to follow, Kakashi said, "Hmm, you don't seem very interested in getting her back."

"The girl is of no consequence the only thing that made her special was her chakra sensing abilities. Although her's was more developed then most we have plenty of sensors. No you are the true prize; with your death we'll gain the Sharingan not to mention the concessions that weak-willed Hokage of yours will give Grass in order to keep the peace."

"You shouldn't go banking on such things when you haven't even seen through the most important part of your plan yet."

Pulling his blade as did the rest of his fellow shinobi the Grass-nin said, "Forgive me for the oversight. Allow me to correct it right now."

"Well you'll certainly try," Kakashi replied nonchalantly as he avoided the man's swing to throw a kunai into another's throat. As he avoided a third Grass-nin's attack from behind he really hoped he didn't share the same fate the Second Hokage had in the story he had mentioned to Naruto.

* * *

Naruto and Karin had quickly reached the Giant Mushrooms that had marked Team Seven's entrance into Grass Country. He planned to turn back as soon as they got Karin across the bridge confident that Sasuke and Sakura would be able to escort her to Konoha. He knew Sakura might put up a fuss so planned to create a shadow clone and only hoped it would confuse Karin's chakra sensing ability or Sakura's uncanny knack to pick him out from among his clones.

However he put it on hold as he noticed Sakura and Sasuke who from the looks of things were in the mother of all arguments. Although still some distance away and she was facing away from him, Naruto could tell just from the way she was standing that Sakura was as mad as he had ever seen her. He was glad that for a change it wasn't directed at him. Sasuke seemed to notice his and Karin's approach but instead of pointing it out fired up a jutsu Naruto had never seen before and after charging at Sakura leapt over her. The Uchiha closed the distance faster than Naruto had ever seen him move causing the jinchuriki to fear a Grass-nin had followed them. He looked over his shoulder and seeing nothing of concern was about to turn to ask Sasuke what was the matter when he felt something tear through his chest.

Staring into Sasuke's red unblinking gaze he only had time to ask, "W-why?" before everything went dark.

Sakura could almost see the light fade from Naruto's eyes and realized the horrible high-pitched shriek hurting her ears was in fact coming from her. Sasuke quickly turned to face her pulling Naruto body around with him which went flying from the top of the mushroom to the ground below. Finally able to move she leapt after him and catching him rolled along the ground but lost her grip rolling several feet further than him. Upon stopping she crawled on all fours towards Naruto begging anything that would listen that she'd wake up to find out it was just a nightmare brought about by eating too many sweets before bed like her mom had always told her.

But as she stared down at his unnaturally still body she knew it was nightmare just not the one she'd ever wake up from. Placing his head in her lap her tears poured uncontrollably from her eyes cover Naruto's face which she wanted to stare at forever but the sound of feet landing in front of her pulled her attention to Sasuke who holding a kunai calmly asked, "Well Sakura feel like forgiving me."

A cold fury overtook her as before she even was conscious of what she was doing she reached into her pouch and whipping her arm around allowed two shuriken to fly although she was confident he only saw one. Sasuke proved her correct as with practice ease he battered the shuriken away but still found his head thrown back as the second impacted with his left eye. As his head slowly lowered back down she could see his remaining eye beginning to bulge out as he came to the realization of what had happened.

"Y-you you fucking bitch," he screamed as his already delicate grip on sanity loosened, "I-I'm going to kill you."

Lowering Naruto's head down Sakura was well aware that even as impaired as he now was Sasuke was still probably more than capable of doing so, but didn't care so long as she took him with her. Reaching into her pouch she grabbed a kunai for each hand and simply charged since there was nothing more that needed to be said.

Stabbing at him with the kunai in her right hand Sasuke easily parried it before lashing out with a punch that hit her in the side of the head. She could tell she surprised him as the punch barely fazed her as she turned her head to lessen the impact. As her head snapped back almost immediately she imagined something terrible most have been unleashed in her as it appeared that Sasuke was actually afraid of what he saw in her green eyes. Suddenly letting off the pressure she was applying against his kunai, she spun around and attempted to bury his other one in the middle of his back. However Sasuke rolled away and as he got to his feet threw his kunai at her as she charged him.

Aware he was trying to slow her down by making her dodge or batter it away she instead simply raised her arm in front of her and took the kunai in her left forearm. The pain made her drop the kunai she held in that hand but it was worth it as Sasuke's remaining eye widened in surprise at her willingness to receive damage if it meant hurting him. And hurt him she did as Sasuke's shock caused him to dodge a half a second too late to completely avoid Sakura's kunai as she swiped it across his face leaving a vicious gash across his left cheek and bit into his nose.

Sasuke clutched at his face but still managed to connect with a kick that knocked Sakura backwards away from him. Although she recovered quickly Sasuke seemed to realize that she wasn't really attacking with a plan but was just trying to overwhelm him with the ferocity of her attacks. Therefore he was better prepared as she charged again almost immediately and after blocking several wild swing lashed out with strike to her stomach and as she bent forward rocked her with a uppercut that lifted her off her feet.

Sakura landed hard on her back and stared up at Sasuke as he reached into his pouch to pull a new kunai out. Gripping it firmly he said coldly, "You're going to suffer for what you did to me?"

Staring up defiantly Sakura said, "At least I managed to take something you cherished as well."

Sasuke's face twisted in pure rage as he lunged forward but screamed in pain as a kunai bit deeply into his left shoulder. Sakura watched as he threw his own up at his assailant on instinct and saw it hit home in Karin right thigh causing her to let out a pained yell. "I'll deal with you next," Sasuke said directing his attention at the girl as she fell from the top of the mushroom.

Although Sasuke left himself open Sakura quickly got to her feet and ran towards the girl. Catching her before she hit the ground Sakura struggled to stand with the added weight and fell to the forest floor. Trying to stand she fell back down as she realized she had twisted her ankle due to her catch and fall. Sasuke slowly closed the distance she had opened between them and asked, "What did saving her prove huh? You're both still going to die at my hand."

"It proves even as much as I hate you I'm not willing to abandon others to fulfill my own selfish desire to see you dead," Sakura retorted.

Sasuke stopped before smiling at her and turning began walking away. "Where are you going?" she shouted angrily ignoring Karin's attempt to quiet her.

"Let's see just how long you keep that attitude. You aren't worth killing Sakura so keep your meaningless existence and live on hating me. Once you've realized we aren't so different then seek me out and I'll kill you then."

Sasuke made it a handful of steps when a large boy with white hair and two red marks above his eyebrows landed in front of him followed by two of the Sound Four that Sakura remembered from Konoha. "It's about time you guys sh…" Sasuke began seeing the Sound headbands but was cut off by a backhand from the large boy that sent him spinning and into the forest floor.

Sasuke glared up at him but the Sound-nin grabbed him around the throat saying cool and cultured in voice that barely concealed his anger as he lifted him in the air, "You're supposed to be the one that replaced me as Lord Orochimaru's chosen one. Look at you; you're barely able to handle this trash." He then tossed him to the heavy set boy with a Mohawk, who promptly knocked the protesting Uchiha out. Kimimaro sighed before saying, "See that this fool doesn't hurt himself any further as you escort him to Sound."

Walking towards Karin and Sakura he pulled a sword like bone from his shoulder as another the boy with two heads asked, "What are you going to do?"

"This was a one way trip for me, and we both know that. Sadly it appears it may be a failure but if Kakashi tries to interfere I will stop him so that Lord Orochimaru may find a way to salvage this mess. I will also dispose of this trash."

Both boys nodded before the heavyset one threw Sasuke over his shoulder like he weighed nothing and both took off Northeast. Realizing that was what Sasuke was searching for Sakura said, "So the bastard was planning this from the start."

Closing with both kunoichi Kimimaro said, "You don't sound surprised."

"That he'd betray us, no I guess not. But what does Orochimaru get out of it?"

"He will serve as the new vessel for Lord Orochimaru's reincarnation."

"Hah, serves him right," Sakura said bitterly.

Kimimaro stopped a moment to stare at her before nodding his understanding of her feelings as he said, "I'll at least make it quick."

Although Karin whimpered, Sakura simply nodded as although not in a hurry to die found she didn't really have the strength anymore now that Sasuke was outside of her grasp. Closing her eyes she hoped that at the very least she'd be reunited with Naruto in the afterlife as she waited for blow that would signal the end, but instead of death felt a sickening chakra wash over her that strangely filled her with a hope that her earlier prayers had been answered.

* * *

"Congratulation you've managed to get yourself killed," snapped the gravelly voice of the Kyuubi.

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he sat up to find he was in front of the cage of the Bijuu he contained. Getting to his feet he shouted, "What the hell am I doing here?"

"Why don't you ask Sasuke," was the fox's mocking remark. Confused at first, Naruto suddenly gripped his chest only to find that there was no sign of the damage he had suffered. "No, you aren't healed, at least not yet," the Kyuubi said upon seeing Naruto's relief at not having a giant hole in him.

"What the hell are you waiting for then?" Get on with it!"

"You don't get to order me around boy. But I see you can't sense what's going on out there. Too bad I've never sensed such fury coming from that girl you're always following around. Too bad she's going to die."

"What! No please let me help her."

The Kyuubi closed it eyes and almost seemed to sniff the air before saying, "Ah such despair it almost insures I'll wait till after he's finished her to heal you."

"Please…you have to let me help her. Didn't you say you'd lend me your chakra?"

"I helped you summon that disgusting toad because at the time it amused me. Now however your pain will benefit me and the real you."

"What the hell are you talking about," Naruto shouted at the ancient beast.

"It's talking about me," a spectral voice called out shocking the blond yet which caused the Kyuubi tooth filled smile to widen.

A circle appeared between Kyuubi cage and Naruto from which a figure began to rise. Although it looked like him, Naruto figured it was some sort of trick but before he could attack felt frozen as he met its eyes which were like his but black with red irises. It wasn't fear that stopped Naruto in his tracks but the eyes that seemed to radiate hatred. Naruto knew he wasn't without hate as he had often wanted to take it out on those around him. However thanks to people like the Hokage and Iruka, he came to the conclusion that his hatred would never truly serve his desires to be recognized. So instead he buried it down and looking at the doppelganger in front of him came to believe he understood where it had taken root.

"Ah finally the two of you meet," the Kyuubi said pleased. Lowering its head to the ground it added, "This is the real you. The one you try to keep hidden from the world."

"What's the matter?" the dark Naruto said, "You look like you've seen a ghost. You can't be surprised that something like me exists inside of you. That smiling fool you try and pass off as the real you is nothing but a front to try and get the villagers to like you."

"That… that isn't true," Naruto said taking a step back as his dark reflection took a step forward.

"Of course it is," Dark Naruto replied, "What do you think you did with all the anger being ignored created inside of you? Instead of lashing out like you deserved too, you buried your true feelings deep and allowed foolish ideas like one day being accepted to float into that vacant mind of yours. Worst of all you even deluded yourself into believing she could come to love you."

Naruto couldn't exactly fault his darker half's beliefs but hearing his own doubt about Sakura he came to a realization which he voiced saying, "It was you. You're the part of me that would always speak up when I thought about telling Sakura the truth."

For the first time since appearing something other than anger and hate appeared in the Dark Naruto's eyes which caused him to look away as he said, "Trust me it was for the best. Once she knows the truth she'll treat you like everyone else."

"Don't say that about her. Sakura wouldn't abandon me, she's… she's my most precious person."

"Hm, you say that but you don't believe it yourself. Why else do you think you listened to me all this time?"

Looking away Naruto admitted, "Because I was scared she would do exactly as you say." Meeting his darker self's eyes he added his resolve growing stronger, "But the truth is so were you." The dark Naruto looked shock at the revelation so Naruto continued, "Why else would you continue to influence me against revealing the Kyuubi to Sakura. If you wanted me to reveal my true self as you put it then having her react as you expected would be more than enough to do so." Taking a step closer his darker half took a step back causing Naruto to smile as he said, "But the truth is you are me and that means you love her too so didn't want to face the pain of being right yourself."

"Hmm, you really believe that. Would you be willing to put it to the test?" Dark Naruto asked trying to shake Naruto's resolve.

"If it'll help Sakura then yes."

"Fine the fox will heal you but in return you have to let him have control of your body."

"No way," Naruto shouted, "It's as likely to hurt Sakura as save her."

"He'll save her alright but here is the test. I want her to feel the Kyuubi's power not just hear about it from you over dinner. If she reacts in fear then the fox keeps your body until someone subdues it or kills us. If she reacts as you believe well then we'll relinquish control back to you."

"How do I know you'll honor your side of the bargain?"

"You don't," Dark Naruto replied, "You'll just have to trust you're right about me too."

"Do it," Naruto said immediately trusting not just in Sakura but the love he felt for her.

Smiling darkly as red chakra began spilling from between the bars the Kyuubi said, "This might hurt a little," before the chakra covered both Naruto.

* * *

As red chakra began pouring out of Naruto's wound Sakura felt like an insect in the face of some massive unknowable power. But seeing Naruto being lifted to his feet by it felt the pain and anguish she was sure would become a permanent part of her heart begin to slip away. His eyes met hers for a moment causing her to gasp at the red they now were, which caused her to notice his increasingly more feral appearance. "Get away from her," he said his tone low and foreboding.

He dropped to all fours and for the first time she noticed the three chakra tails that were swinging wildly behind him. A fourth one grew and then she and Karin were sent flying as a powerful shockwave erupted from where he was crouched. What stood in his place was something that barely resembled a human as Naruto was no longer visible beneath the dense shroud. The white eyes focused on her for a moment and a vicious smile formed on its face before directing its attention on the Kaguya.

"Interesting it still appears there is some life in you," Kimimaro said before pointing his fingers at the transformed Naruto, "Digital Shrapnel." From his fingertips bone projectiles appeared which quickly closed with Naruto who didn't seemed concerned in the least. It became apparent why when the bones all hit their target but bounced harmlessly off.

Naruto reared his head back roaring which caused another shockwave to pass through the area causing all those present to fight to remain standing. Kimimaro managed but just barely and pulling a whip that had once been his spine charged at Naruto. The Kyuubified Naruto reared back with his arm and swinging extended it to reach the Kaguya. Kimimaro leapt over the elongated appendage and continued to avoid it as Naruto swung it back and forth. Still he was caught by surprise when another arm sprouted out of it grabbing him by the ankle and tossed him away through one of the giant mushrooms. As it fell to the ground white and black spears began appearing from its body which formed into a ball above it which the Kyuubi Naruto then swallowed. Sinking into the ground it fired at where the Kaguya had flown scarring the earth for miles.

Roaring in satisfaction the Kyuubi possessed Naruto was caught by surprise as giant shards of bone began shooting from the ground around it. A shard hit him in the chest lifting him from his crouched position and depositing him on his back. Appearing from the bone was Kimimaro who leaping into the air formed a bone blade from the palm of his hand that he jammed into the prone Naruto's chest. Sakura could see the Sound-nin surprise when not only did his attack fail to penetrate but Kyuubi actually grinned up at him before the chakra of his chest shifted into an arm an arm which picked the Kaguya off his feet and smashed him into the ground. Then instead of getting to his feet the chakra around Naruto shifted so that it appeared to be crouched instead of on its back.

"Impressive, I wonder if you can still be considered human at the moment. Still I can't help but feel this is a truly fitting end to my service to Lord Orochimaru," Kimimaro said covered in burns from where the Kyuubi had touched him. His skin grew darker as he activated his Curse Mark saying, "Still although in this form you are probably as much a danger to your allies as to me. Your continued existence endangers Lord Orochimaru's more far reaching plans so I will grant you a release from this tortured existence."

Now in his second state, Kimimaro formed his most powerful bone on his right arm which resembled an overlarge drillhead. Charging the possessed boy he shouted, "Now die for Lord Orochimaru's ambition," as he pulled back his arm to stab into the smiling creature's face. Bringing it forward with all his might he was shocked as the Kyuubi easily caught it one handed and almost as an afterthought ripped it from his body along with the arm it was attached to. As he reared back in pain, the Kyuubi pressed its advantage stabbing both hands into the Kaguya's stomach easily bypassing the layer of hardened bone they encountered so that its long fingers appeared from Kimimaro's back.

Kyuubi Naruto lifted the young man in the air giving him enough time to whisper, "L-lord Orochimaru," before being ripped in half by the possessed jinchuriki. Tossing the two halves behind him, Kyuubi screamed towards the heavens in triumph.

Sakura watched terrified as instead of reverting to normal it appeared he was searching for more targets. Fearing he was becoming lost to his Bijuu and thinking herself the reason for it much as she had been during the Sound Invasion found herself running towards the transformed boy. With tears in her eyes she shouted, "Naruto, please stop that's enough. We're safe now please come back to me."

The transformed Naruto turned his head towards her and his eyes narrowed before shooting one of its tails at her. Just before it smashed into her she closed her eyes but when nothing happened opened one to see the tail had stopped inches from impaling her face. Looking beyond it she saw the still chakra covered Naruto with his hands pressed to his head as he shook it back and forth as a blue light of his chakra began to appear as if battling against the Kyuubi's.

* * *

Meanwhile inside the seal Naruto was glaring at the fox as he flared his chakra combating the Bijuu as he tried to reassert control. "Give it up boy," the ancient beast said about to flare its own chakra but found its ability to do so hampered as the Dark Naruto began pulling the chakra away from the true Naruto and absorbing it. "What are you doing? This isn't what we planned."

"No," Dark Naruto replied, "But then again I never really liked you either. You shouldn't have tried to hurt Sakura."

"Bastards," the fox roared, "I'll get free and when I do I'll torment you with her screams for years."

Naruto stared up at the fox and vowed, "You just guaranteed your never getting out you bastard fox. As long as you're a threat to my precious people you're staying put right here in my gut." Ignoring the fox's curses he turned towards his other half and said, "Thank you."

"I didn't do it for you," Dark Naruto said nonchalantly and was surprised when Naruto suddenly wrapped him in a hug.

"I know," he replied, "You did it for us."

"Get out of here," Dark Naruto said breaking the hug as he began to fade away, "and make sure nothing happens to her."

"Don't worry that's a promise."

Everything went dark again but he knew he was alive as it felt like he was cooked from the inside out. Despite his eyes protesting against it, he managed to open them to see Sakura staring down at him with worry and relief evident in her own. Trying to smile brightly despite the flaring pain it caused him he said, "Hey…um I can explain I promise."

Sakura's eyes filled with tears as she suddenly lurched forward wrapping him tightly in a hug that sent shockwaves of pain through him but truthfully was sad he couldn't endure more to feel her arms around him as he lost his battle to maintain consciousness.

* * *

Karin watched Sakura cry into Naruto's chest and despite her being glad she was alive felt sad at the fact she knew the blond was already off the market. She didn't feel bitter about it since when torn between the desire to run too or away from him, knew that if she hadn't been rooted to the spot by fear would have chosen away even as Sakura charged forward. Sighing at the lost opportunity for love, she swept the area with her ability and finding Kakashi closing with them decided to make herself scarce until he showed up to give what she suspected would soon be a fledgling couple some room even if one of them was passed out.


	13. Chapter 13 A Happy end of the Beginning

**An:** I'm sorry for the long wait but with the rigors of everyday life my time to write has been rather limited. But I will finish all of my stories so even if the updates are far apart know that I am working on them. In any case thank you to those who review as always they are a great reward for the time and effort to let me know this story is appreciated by more than just me. Your humble author S. o. t. A.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit**

**Chapter 13: A Happy End of the Beginning**

Sakura was pulled from her crying against Naruto's chest by his breathing taking on a raspy quality. Pulling her head away she could see that he appeared to still be badly burnt due to the chakra that had covered him moments before. Wondering why the Kyuubi hadn't begun to heal him yet, she cast a worried look back the way Naruto and Karin had come from hoping to see Kakashi making his way towards them. Sadly, her hope wasn't answered. As she turned away to look in the direction she'd need to travel to return to the Land of Fire her gaze landed on Karin so asked, "Where's Kakashi –sensei?"

"We were attacked by a group of shinobi trying to prevent me from defecting. He stayed behind to deal with them," the girl replied her tone mixed with the many emotions she was feeling, among them a healthy mixture of confusion, worry, and fear. Sakura could understand the confusion and worry since the kunoichi no doubt was wondering what had set Sasuke off enough to attack his own teammates and the worry probably stemmed from her own situation. Sakura just hoped the fear wasn't of Naruto as she knew the blond would be worried enough about just such a reaction if he remembered what had happened to him.

Naruto began to cough pulling Sakura's attention back to her teammate. She began to fear that the Bijuu was refraining from healing Naruto as a form of retribution for the boy retaking control of his body. If that was the case she began to panic since she had no idea just how extensive he had been injured as a result of the transformation. Biting her lip she looked back in the direction Kakashi was probably still fighting against who knew how many Grass-nin. She didn't want to abandon her teacher but at the same time was loathe to leaving Naruto in Karin's care. It wasn't from a sense of jealousy so much as a concern the girl would desert him for her own safety if things got rough for her. Not to mention Sakura couldn't be sure she would even want to travel alone with the jinchuriki now that Karin had a sense of what he contained. Sakura was also aware her desire to stay by Naruto was also born of her increasingly strong feelings for him.

Knowing that Naruto wasn't getting any better just lying there, Sakura pulled him up to his feet and maneuvered him to her back. She cursed her own weakness as her knees threatened to buckle due to how heavy he was but feeling the load lighten she looked over her shoulder to see Karin pulling him off and throwing one of his arms over her shoulder. Sending the kunoichi a grateful smile she got on his other side to mirror Karin. Sending one last look in Kakashi's direction she hoped he understood her decision and wished him luck before taking off with Karin to get Naruto someplace where he could be treated.

* * *

Kakashi parried the tanto of the Grass-nin that had led the ambush team and was currently the last obstacle in his way to catching up with his students. Leaping away as the man spun around to slash at his stomach, Kakashi quickly flashed through several hand-signs to perform his Lighting Cutter. Upon landing he charged forward holding his arm behind him in preparation to strike. As he closed the distance he noticed a small smirk appear on the man's face, but due to his speed couldn't alter his course. Slamming the jutsu into the man's chest, Kakashi cursed as the Grass shinobi turned into a doll made of grass upon which an exploding tag was affixed. Pulling his arm free and kicking the substitution doll away he was nevertheless blown off his feet as the tag exploded.

Hitting the ground, he rolled to his feet in a crouch looking for his opponent but needn't have bothered as the man's tanto was placed to the side of his throat against his jugular. Standing behind and to the side of him his back facing Kakashi's as he held the blade in an underhand grip the Grass-nin said, "You're truly deserving of your reputation Sharingan Kakashi. Killing you will surely raise my own reputation."

"I told you that you shouldn't bank on things until you've actually accomplished them."

The man smirked and was about to counter when a noise from above distracted him. Looking up he was caught by surprise as Pakkun landed on his face and running his claws over it scratched it up. "Stupid mutt," he shouted swiping at the nin- dog as it leapt away from him. The Grass-nin only had enough time to realize he had momentarily forgotten about Kakashi before the Leaf-nin struck shoving a kunai into the back of the man's skull.

"Whew," Kakashi said breathing out a relieved breathe as she pulled down his headband to cover his Sharingan, "thanks Pakkun. I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't of distracted him."

"Don't mention it," his summons said although Kakashi could tell he was beaming from the praise. Turning serious the nin-dog said, "Kakashi that chakra a while ago was…"

"Yeah," Kakashi said having no need of the summons to tell him the massive chakra they had felt during his fight had been the Kyuubi's.

"You should know that I smell blood. Lots of it."

Kakashi nodded numbly fearing that once more those important to him had been taken from his life. He also feared that it had been Naruto who had done it and had no idea of what he could do or say to help the boy if he had. Still he knew he was getting ahead of himself so getting his emotions under control said, "Come on Pakkun. I have a feeling I'm still going to need your services."

"Right," the summons said as it took off running after Kakashi worried for his master since despite his aloofness Pakkun knew just how emotionally fragile the jounin truly was. Luckily, as they approached the area where the fighting had broken out Pakkun could smell that although some of Naruto and Sasuke's blood had been spilled, it hadn't been in the massive quantities he had initially picked up. Landing on the ground in the Mushroom Forest it didn't take his keen sense of smell for Pakkun to find where the scent of blood that was filling the air was coming from. Both Pakkun and Kakashi moved towards the torn in half corpse, and upon reaching it the jounin flipped the top half over to search for clues as to what village he belonged too.

Upon getting an idea from the scent trails he was picking up Pakkun said, "This guy along with two others came in from the North-East. Kakashi I don't think I need to tell you what vill…"

"Sound," Kakashi said as he crouched over the Sound-nin's ruined corpse. His hand was holding the youth's loose shirt away from his chest allowing Pakkun to see the curse mark that resided there.

Seeing the direction his master's thoughts were heading the summons said, "Yeah, but Sasuke as well as Naruto were injured here…"

"But Sasuke's heading towards Sound while Sakura and Naruto are returning to the village."

Wincing at the dead tone of Kakashi, Pakkun nodded admitting, "Yeah, but he might be heading under duress. "

Kakashi nodded at his summon's point but in his heart knew that wasn't the case. He also knew he could probably catch up if he pushed himself to learn the truth of the matter. But the fact that Sakura had left the area told him that Naruto was probably hurt pretty badly since he doubted the other two Sound-nin had stuck around as the jinchuriki's Bijuu had temporarily taken control, since that was the only way Kakashi could explain the brutality inflicted upon the corpse. Despite the horrible scene and his belief that Sasuke was a willing participant in his leaving with the Sound-nin, Kakashi couldn't help but smile that regardless of being at ground zero for one of the most horrific chakras in existence, Sakura had still refused to abandon her teammate. With that he knew in what direction he needed to go so set off to catch up with those heading back to Konoha.

Aware that his summons was following him as well as that if the Kyuubi had exerted control for a time it had probably done a number on Naruto, Kakashi said, "Pakkun, locate Lady Tsunade and Lord Jiraiya. Let them know what happened here and its likely Naruto will need medical attention."

"What about Sakura and Karin?" the nin-dog asked.

"They appear to be fine," Kakashi replied looking at the tracks leading to Fire Country, "or lightly injured at worse. Once you make contact come find us to guide us to where they are."

"Roger," the summons said before breaking off to follow his orders.

Kakashi spared a moment to watch Pakkun disappear into the forest confident the nin-dog would quickly find the two Sannin. Allowing his concentration to return to the path ahead, Kakashi could feel the crushing despair that once more he had failed those close to him including the dearly departed. However he quickly shook it off since for the moment his duty was to see to the living. There would be time enough for asking the dead for forgiveness later.

* * *

Sakura vowed she would get stronger as she followed in the wake of Kakashi. She had been cursing her weakness the entire time back to Konoha as Naruto's condition appeared to get worse and worse. Her feelings of inadequacy only had grown as she struggled to carry Naruto even with Karin's help. It had been a godsend when Kakashi had appeared easily lifting the blond from between them without breaking stride.

Kakashi had only looked back long enough to ask, "Where's Sasuke?"

Sakura didn't need to see her face to know that it had twisted into a mask of disgust as she had replied simply, "Gone." Kakashi seemed to know exactly what she meant as he hadn't pushed at the time. A few hours later Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke causing the kunoichi to fear that she had accidently grabbed a shadow clone. While she knew that was unlikely, her mind hadn't exactly been all that rational due to all the stress.

However Kakashi was still as composed as ever and aware his student was about to panic said, "Relax, Sakura. He's been reversed summoned by Jiraiya or the toads. It just means he's with the best medic in all the shinobi countries. He'll be fine."

Sakura did relax but that didn't mean she wanted to rest which was something Kakashi insisted on now that Naruto was gone. When she had protested the Jounin had insisted and explained it was likely that the Sannin had taken a leisurely pace back to the village and were unlikely in Konoha yet. Still her body had been thankful for it as she sank to the ground. Kakashi had then pressed for a more detailed report of what happened. Sakura had held nothing back even as it became apparent that Kakashi was taking some of the details as a personal failure. But Sakura didn't let that hold her back as she felt Sasuke was trash and didn't want to leave any doubt in the jounin's mind about there being a chance to save him.

Now though nearly three days later, Sakura only wanted to see Naruto. As she followed Kakashi she could see the small city of Tigers Rock pulling into sight. It was about a four day walk from Konoha. Much as Kakashi had expected the Sannin hadn't been in a rush to get back to Konoha or at least Sakura imagined Tsunade wasn't. Pakkun had informed them upon linking back up with them that the two would wait for them there before continuing on to the Leaf Village.

Reaching the entrance of the village Sakura was surprised to see a slug the size of a large dog sitting there apparently waiting for them. "Hello Kakashi," it said in a quiet cultured voice.

"Lady Katsuyu," the jounin replied respectfully, "Naruto…"

"Is fine," slug replied soothingly, "He and the others are at the hospital. I shall inform them of your arrival." Giving them the directions to the hospital the slug disappeared in a cloud of smoke to do as it had said.

Arriving at the large building, the shinobi didn't need to ask where to go as the nervous glances the staff sent into the interior of the building pointed the way. Kakashi did stop to ask to make sure but Sakura simply proceeded on her own and stopped upon coming across a hall being blocked by a large orange toad. Upon seeing her Konoha headband it stepped to the side allowing her to pass but stepped in front of Karin since she still wore her Grass one. Not really paying attention as the red-head began to argue with the toad she moved deeper into the hallway to come across Jiraiya.

"Hey," he said looking as if he had slept in the hall the entire time since their arrival.

"What's going on?" she asked looking back towards the toad still barring Karin's path.

"Why don't you tell us," Tsunade said stepping out from one of the rooms, "The little stubborn idiot is being rather closed mouth about it."

Sakura's eyes went wide guessing that Naruto was trying to protect Sasuke. "I'll talk to him," she said quickly moving to the door Tsunade had entered the hall from.

A smile appeared on the female Sannin's face since she realized the kunoichi was sidestepping her statement in favor of getting access to the boy. "Sure," she said but as Sakura stepped by Tsunade frowned upon seeing Jiraiya's face almost grow pained before he stood up claiming to need some fresh air.

* * *

Stepping into the room she closed the door behind her, smiling as sweetly as she could at the boy sitting up in the hospital bed. "Hey," she said cursing herself for how lame she sounded.

"H-hey," he replied in turn sounding nervous, not that she could blame him all things considered.

Trying to sound soothing she said, "Naruto you don't need to be so…"

"I swear I was going to tell you when we got back to the village Sakura," Naruto said quickly as he figured Kakashi had needed to explain what had happened to him.

"I know," Sakura replied, it breaking her heart to see just how scared he was he had damaged his bond with her due to his keeping it a secret from her. Knowing that she needed to be honest with him she said, "I've known for a while now that the Kyuubi had been sealed inside you."

Naruto looked stunned as she closed the distance between them as he asked, "W-why didn't you say anything?"

She smiled at him saying, "I could ask you the same thing," but stopped him from responding by placing a finger against his lips to explain, "I learned about you being a jinchuriki after the Wave mission. I also figured out that you probably only learned about it just before we became teammates." He nodded so she continued, "I also figured out that there was some rule against the children of the village learning about it. So I guess I was hoping that in time you'd trust me enough to tell me since everyone who did know about it already did. It was stupid but I just wanted…"

"I do trust you Sakura," Naruto said earnestly as he interrupted her. "I trust you more than anyone I know."

"I know," she replied smiling in a way that made Naruto feel as if she was just soothing him.

Grabbing her hand he said, "I mean it. The fox didn't want to lend me its power to help you. I think it figured your death would make me willing to release it or something. It even brought out some darker aspect of my personality and tried to convince me it was the real me. In the end I had to strike a bargain with both of them…"

"What sort of bargain?"

That even if I let the fox take temporary control of my body and you learned what I contained that you wouldn't reject me," Naruto answered giving her a bright smile since his still being in control meant he had won the bargain. His smile faded somewhat as he noticed tears appearing in her eyes so beginning to panic said, "I-I thought you would be ha…mph"

He found his ability to speak hampered and it took him a moment to process why as he couldn't be sure he wasn't dreaming as Sakura had suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and was currently pressing her lips to his. Although still not sure if he was dreaming or not, he decided that if he was he would much rather this be reality as he closed his eyes to enjoy his first kiss, since he figured the one with Sasuke sure the hell shouldn't count. After what felt like an eternity of tasting heaven, the need to breathe assaulted both genin so they separated to stare into each other's eyes.

Both of them were blushing as Naruto nervously asked, "W-what's this mean for us Sakura?"

Linking her hand with his, she said, "It means that you're mine now, Naruto Uzumaki, fox and all." The grin that split the blond's face as a result of her words made Sakura more determined than ever to protect him and by extension her own heart. Giving into the temptation she felt she gave his lips another quick peck saying, "I'll go tell everyone about what happened with Sasuke. You rest okay."

"A-are you sure Sakura, h-he's our team…"

"He's trash Naruto and he nearly took my most important person from me. What Orochimaru has in store for him is too good a fate as far as I'm concerned. You rest because I can't wait to get back to Konoha and tell everyone who my boyfriend is." Smiling at the beaming look on Naruto's face she vowed to become stronger for him so his smile would never falter and if in order to fulfill that promise she needed to remove an Uchiha or two from the world, well she could live with that.

* * *

"I never imagined you'd have such a hard time escaping from those teammates of yours Sasuke. Perhaps I should have offered to train that pink-haired kunoichi instead." Orochimaru smiled as Sasuke gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists at his words. "What a shame to see the power of the Sharingan halved like that."

"Kakashi only has one and he was able to carve a name for himself with it," Sasuke snapped angrily, "And he's not even an Uchiha."

"True, and I suppose there is still a chance to make you whole again. It even coincides with your great ambition."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke said a measure of hope entering his voice.

"I mean if you can kill Itachi. I can transplant his eyes to you. I've heard rumors that doing so among relatives is the key to unlocking some of the greater potential of the Sharingan. I'm interested to see if they are true." Standing from his throne the Snake Sannin said, "In any case we have to get you much stronger if you are going to challenge Itachi." Heading deeper into the tunnels that made up one of his many bases with Sasuke in tow, Orochimaru couldn't help but lick his lips in anticipation, true he hated delaying getting his hands on the Sharingan but couldn't help but be pleased by the latest setback. Since once Sasuke killed Itachi the boy would no doubt come to him to implant the eyes and once on his operating table the Uchiha should prove to be easy pickings for him. Patience had never been a strong suit of his but for the Mangekyō Sharingan he was sure he could learn to be.

* * *

Tsunade smiled as she stepped foot into Konoha for the first time in nearly a decade. In truth it wasn't the village that was responsible for her good mood but the new couple that was leading the way as they held hands. It was hard not to smile when in the presence of young love and despite her usual negativity she felt that this couple had already beaten some long odds to be together.

Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-sensei is it alright if we leave to go tell my parents the news," Sakura said spending a moment to give a nervous Naruto a warm smile.

Kakashi quickly agreed causing Tsunade to say, "I don't have a problem with it."

_Again she couldn't help but smile as Sakura took off dragging the boy behind her. As she watched, she thought back to just after Sakura left the hospital room. She had joined Kakashi in filling her in about the details as to how Naruto had been injured so grievously as well as providing some of the details about how Naruto had regained control of his body from the Kyuubi. After hearing the details, Tsunade watched as Kakashi had gone in to check in on his student while Sakura moved to talk to Karin around a corner. _

_A little curious she had eavesdropped as Sakura said, "Hey…um look I know you might have feelings for him too but you should…"_

"_I know," Karin said looking down at her feet sadly, "It's written all over your face." Sighing, the kunoichi added, "Look you don't need to worry about me. I'm not the type of girl who's going to try and muscle her way into someone else's relationship." Sakura nodded in reply so Karin added, "But that doesn't mean that if you screw up that you won't find me between you and him so quickly it'll make your head spin."_

"_Fair enough," Sakura had replied and from her tone Tsunade could tell the kunoichi was positive such a thing would never happen._

_Surprised she was acting like Jiraiya she decided to leave the girl alone, but didn't get far before Sakura came around the corner saying, "Lady Tsunade."_

"_Lady…" Tsunade said surprised as she turned to look at the girl astounded by the respectful tone considering Sakura's previous attitude towards her. Not that Tsunade would admit that she hadn't deserved it._

"_What is it," she asked as the girl came to a stop in front of her._

"_I…" Sakura began before dropping to the ground and bowing said, "Please train me. I need to become stronger if I'm going to protect Naruto."_

"_Sakura…" she said shocked at the girl's humbling herself in front of her, "I…"_

"_Please," she said looking up with tears appearing in her eyes, "I know there's no guarantee even with your training I'll be strong enough to do it. But this mission showed me just how much more I need to grow. Please Lady Tsunade I humbly ask that you train me."_

_Shrugging Tsunade said, "Sure, only the kami know how much potential you'd end up wasting if I left it to Jiraiya. But you should know I'm a true taskmaster and there's a good chance you might not survive my training methods."_

_Sakura swallowed heavily but nodded as she got to her feet saying, "Thank you Tsunade-sensei."_

Losing sight of her apprentice, she began walking with the others to report to the Hokage. Noticing that Jiraiya's mood hadn't truly improved since the hospital she said, "Kakashi would you, Karin, and Shizune mind heading to the Hokage's office ahead of us. I would like a moment to talk with Jiraiya."

Receiving a couple of brisk nods, she waited until they were out of earshot before asking, "What's the matter with you? I've never seen you so down in the dumps before without it being related to the death of a friend. Don't tell me you were that attached to the Uchiha brat. Becoming Orochimaru's meat puppet is exactly what he deserves."

"I can't help but agree with you," Jiraiya said his tone picking up a little anger at the Uchiha in question.

"Then what's wrong? Seriously I figured you'd be the most excited about your apprentice getting himself a girlfriend."

"I am happy for him," Jiraiya said after a moment.

Able to hear the "but," he left unsaid she prodded saying, "Come on, what is it?"

"I'm planning on asking the Hokage to allow me to take Naruto out of the village on a training trip. Considering what I know that boy will be facing soon I need to focus him exclusively on getting stronger."

"Jiraiya you can't," Tsunade said quickly and aware that the only reason such a thing would bother him so was he was talking years, "They've just found each other."

"Then she'll wait if he means anything to her," Jiraiya said a little bitterness slipping into his voice. Tsunade was taken aback by his tone but he quickly composed himself saying, "Look, I know it's unfair to them. But, as I was tracking Orochimaru I became aware of a group called Akatsuki. He joined them for a time. I'm not sure about what their goal is or even who else makes up its members but I've heard whispers that they are interested in the jinchuriki which they've shown to be true during this mission. Plus when Orochimaru left them he made damn sure they couldn't find him for some time which is when I lost him. That tells me he was afraid of them and anyone he's afraid of is someone that needs to be prepared for. I'm not thrilled at coming between Naruto and Sakura, but it is likely Naruto's destiny to fight Akatsuki and sometimes that means putting one's personal happiness to the side."

Jiraiya began walking away and for a moment Tsunade was once more on the bridge leading away from Ame where Jiraiya had met the three orphans. She didn't know why his words had brought that particular memory to the forefront of her mind but there she was on the bridge again standing next to him as he said, "I'll stay behind and watch these brats for a while."

She figured maybe the reason for the memory was due to how everything progressed after that as she had been considering taking Jiraiya up on one of his many advances. However, instead she had met Dan and had fallen madly in love. Granted Jiraiya had still been around the village then but it had been sporadic at best as he would only show up to report what he had learned while behind enemy lines before returning back to the three orphans he had taken under his wing.

After Dan's death, Jiraiya had returned on a more permanent basis. However, by then she had begun to close off her heart. She knew Shizune had come to believe that it was the necklace she wore that was cursed. But Tsunade believed it was her and it was only giving the necklace away that told fate which of her precious people to take from her. Yet there had been times when she wondered, what if. What if she had stayed behind with Jiraiya as he trained those Ame brats? Pushing such thoughts away as those of a younger woman she realized Jiraiya was leaving her behind so quickly moved to catch up while plotting on making sure her new apprentice didn't need to ever ask herself that.

* * *

Sarutobi watched as Kakashi left his office with the air of a defeated man as he led Karin to the small apartment the Hokage had procured for her. Sighing at his inactions when it came to Sasuke the Hokage began to think on some mission to give the man to keep his mind occupied. Several moments later Jiraiya arrived along with Tsunade and Shizune, who had waited outside for her master. Standing from behind his desk he came around it saying, "Ah, it is good to see you again my dears."

Shizune gave a bow saying, "It is good to see you too, Lord Hokage."

Giving the woman a quick hug he said, "There is no need to be so formal." Turning to Tsunade, he added, "Tsunade, I had feared you would never return to Konoha."

"The thought had crossed my mind," she replied accepting the hug much as Shizune had done.

"Well I'm glad to see it didn't take root," he said with a smile before heading back to his desk. "Now as to why I've…"

"Before we get to that," Tsunade interrupted ignoring the shushing sounds Shizune was making. "I've got to wonder considering I spent several hours healing one of your shinobi just when the hell Konoha's guidelines on who should and shouldn't be a shinobi became so lax."

Sitting down the Third sighed before saying, "I'm guessing you are referring to Sasuke."

"Hell Yeah I am!" she replied quickly and angrily, "That brat must have practically screamed unstable. From what I've heard from my apprentice…"

"Apprentice," Sarutobi said casting a confused look towards Shizune who shook her head.

"I've taken Sakura Haruno on as a student," Tsunade said quickly before refocusing the conversation, "She's told me that from the very beginning he's made no bones about his only goal being to kill his brother. You must have known that given the right circumstances that all it would take to lure him away was the promise of power."

"I did," Sarutobi admitted, "I've had this conversation with my advisors many times."

"Then…"

"But, I didn't give in to them due to the debt we owed to Itachi."

"Debt, why would…?"

Seeing that Tsunade understood his point he said, "Yes, Itachi killed his clan and family under orders."

Hearing such for the first time Jiraiya asked, "Why would he agree to do that? Hell why would you order it?"

"I didn't," the Hokage said after composing his thoughts, "I doubt either of you are aware of this but over the years the Uchiha came to believe we viewed them as second class citizens. They thought due to their clan's role in the founding of Konoha they deserved a more prominent position in the village." Pulling his pipe from a drawer he lit it and turned his chair to look out on the village as he puffed away on it for several moments. "Eventually when it didn't happen fast enough to their liking they began plotting to take it by force. But they underestimated one of their member's love for the village. Itachi came to us with news of the impending rebellion after they asked him to spy on us. In turn we used him as a double agent as I tried to negotiate an end to the plot before it degenerated into open warfare." Scowling he said, "Sadly my efforts to negotiate were viewed as a waste of time. It was an opinion shared by Itachi. Therefore under orders from Danzou and my advisors he launched a preemptive strike. He caught them completely off guards and as far as we know slaughtered them all in a single night."

Standing he moved towards the window of his office with his hands clasped behind his back and the pipe in his mouth. "What do you mean as far as we know?" Jiraiya asked grimly.

Pulling his pipe free, he turned to his former student to reply, "I've long doubted that even Itachi could kill his entire clan by himself. I believe he had allies who helped him, but if he did he never told me. He didn't have time for you see Danzou and the other underestimated one thing."

"What's that?" Shizune asked surprised at herself for speaking up.

The Hokage graced her with a distant smile before answering, "That for all his love for Konoha it paled in comparison to that which he had for his brother. Itachi's orders were to kill all the Uchiha, Sasuke included. As you know he spared him and planted the desire to kill him in his brother's head. I doubt Itachi had any idea of just what his brother would become to fulfill that desire. In any case after completing his mission he came to me and begged that I watch over Sasuke. I agreed."

"Still watching over him and letting him become a shinobi are two different things." Tsunade said crossing her arms across her chest. "The moment he showed signs of being unstable you should have pulled him from the program."

"I couldn't help but feel that Itachi had some sort of plan for his brother. A plan that required Sasuke to become a shinobi, I felt that at the very least it was best to let whatever Itachi had in store to progress unhindered by me."

"How do you feel about that now?" Tsunade said angrily on Sakura's behalf prompting both Shizune and Jiraiya to shush her.

"As blunt as ever," The Third said with a smile, "Now then let's get to the reason I've called you here."

"First I need to ask permission to take Naruto out on a training trip." Jiraiya said. "If he's going to face some of those challenges I've warned you of he's going to need to get stronger. I can't do that here."

"Very well," Sarutobi said having a good idea as to why since some of the training would probably involve the Kyuubi.

"Good," Jiraiya said heading for the door, "We'll be leaving at the end of the week. It'll give him to get his affairs in order."

Tsunade scowled at his back feeling that one of those affairs was her student's relationship with the jinchuriki. Sarutobi caught the look and after Jiraiya left asked, "Something I should know about?"

Guessing Kakashi hadn't informed the Hokage of the development between his students she said, "Naruto and Sakura have just started a relationship. It isn't right to tear them apart." She could see her former teacher about to explain the necessity of it so cut him off saying, "Look, it isn't right no matter how you put it so let's cut to the chase. I'm guessing your calling me back involves passing on your title."

"It does," The Hokage confirmed, "I've grown too old to properly fulfill my duties. It's time someone younger takes the mantle. I've chosen you."

"I refuse," Tsunade said defiantly, "There's no way in hell I was your first choice."

Sighing, the Hokage admitted, "No, but he's made his thoughts on the matter clear."

"Well what if I could change his mind?"

Frowning, the Third said, "Tsunade, he's about to take Naruto on a training trip for the next couple of years in all likelihood."

"What a quirk of fate," Tsunade replied with a smirk, "I just happen to have a new apprentice and plan on taking her on one as well."

Seeing where Tsunade was going, Sarutobi smiled but said, "Don't you need the Hokage's permission for such a thing? Will Sakura even be willing to go and leave her family for so long?"

"If she's the girl I think she is then she will. Look, we both know the best and strongest candidate to be the next Hokage just walked out the door. Let me work on him over the next few years and I guarantee he'll be ready to take the job."

Sarutobi drummed his fingers over his desk as he thought over Tsunade's proposition. While on one hand he would be willing to admit Jiraiya had always been his first choice to replace him, the man always managed to convince him to choose another claiming his work was too important. Whether he was talking about spying or his novels Sarutobi could never say. Still he knew that choosing Jiraiya would ensure the Daimyo's backing against any plots Danzou might scheme to install himself as Hokage. Liking the idea more and more, he said, "Alright, I'll agree to go along with this so long as Sakura agrees."

Tsunade simply smiled as she was positive she knew how asking Sakura would play out.

* * *

Naruto felt like he was being interrogated although the man sitting across from him hadn't said a word. He and Sakura had arrived at her house but had only made it as far as her front door when Sakura's mom had opened the door. Seeing the two holding hands the mother squealed happily. Making the connection she said, "I'm so happy for you two. I've made plenty for dinner so you'll be staying Naruto, right?"

"Yep," Sakura said smiling at Naruto who still appeared rather nervous. Before he could answer though, he was pulled along as mother and daughter headed into the house.

Sitting Naruto down at the table with Sakura's father her mom said, "Naruto, you wait here. Sakura can you give me a hand in the kitchen."

"Sure mom," Sakura said placing a kiss against Naruto's cheek before following after her mom.

Thereby leaving Naruto with the man currently staring at him like he was Konoha's premier interrogator. Naruto cleared his throat hoping the man would end the silent interrogation. Finally Sakura's dad leaned forward having inferred his daughter relationship status to say, "I know you care about my daughter and I might be a simple civilian but if you hurt my baby don't underestimate what I can do to you."

Naruto eyes grew wide in shock but now believed he knew where Sakura's more aggressive side tended to come from . A moment later, the two women came in holding plates as they began to set the table. Sakura sat next to Naruto as her mom brought in the meal but had a hard time tearing his gaze from Sakura's dad as he seemed to switch back to his calm persona but still gave off a hint of malice as he said, "Smells good… right Naruto?"

Naruto nodded his head rapidly so as to appease Sakura's dad but also because the meal did in fact smell delicious. As Sakura's mother sat down she said, "You two simply must tell us what happened on your mission that you've decided to make it official."

"Official," Naruto asked tilting his head in confusion.

"You are dating now right…I didn't misread…"

"We are mom," Sakura said giving Naruto a bright smile. She noticed that he seemed a little nervous about the question and guessed it was probably due to his releasing the Kyuubi. Taking charge of the conversation she began a more filtered recalling of the events saying, "Well it's bound to get out soon but during our mission Sasuke defected to Oto." Sakura paused due to her mother's gasp, her father's reaction was less noticeable as he simply leaned forward in interest so she continued, "He didn't even have the courage to announce his intentions to defect instead he attacked Naruto when his guard was down. I guess you could say seeing Naruto so injured really drove the point home about how much I've come to care for him."

"I see," Sakura's father replied leaning back giving his daughter the impression he knew she was providing all the details as to what happened. "Did Sasuke manage to escape?"

"Unfortunately," Sakura said her voice growing cold something both her parents noticed.

"The important thing is that you're both home and safe," Sakura's mom said as she began to cut into her meal. Everyone but Sakura's dad followed suit as he stared at Naruto in a studious manner. His wife noticing it asked, "Is something a matter with your meal?"

"No it's fine," he answered picking up his utensils for a moment. After several seconds of looking like he was about to cut into the meal he placed them down saying, "Naruto, I take it you feel as strongly about Sakura as she seems to feel about you?"

Naruto nodded as he replied, "Yes, all I ever wanted is for her to be happy. I'd do anything to make her so."

"Good, do you still intend to become Hokage?"

"Uh-huh, I mean being Sakura's boyfriend and becoming Hokage have always been my dreams. Now that I'm with her I feel the other is just within my grasp."

"That's so sweet," Sakura's mom gushed. Sakura gave her approval by blushing and if not for her parents' presences would have likely kissed him.

However her father calmly said, "Perhaps you should abandon that goal."

"Dad!"

"Honey!"

Naruto looked shocked, so explaining himself Itsuki said, "Life is about choices. It's easy to imagine everything being sunshine and rainbows from here on out. But the simple fact is that most of the Hokage have died relatively young. The First was in his forties, the Second was in his late thirties and the Fourth was in his late twenties. Only the Third has lived to become an old man. Therefore if your goal is Sakura's happiness then perhaps it's best if you abandon becoming Hokage. You may not be able to achieve both."

Looking to Naruto's who was staring at the table Sakura quickly came to his defense, "Dad, I could only be happy knowing that Naruto…"

"That's okay Sakura," Naruto said interrupting her as he met her dad's eyes. "You're right I suppose. After all I only originally wanted to become Hokage so the people of the village would stop seeing me as the Kyuubi."

Sakura's mom looked surprised directing her gaze to her daughter realizing that since the jinchuriki had mentioned his containing the Kyuubi it meant her daughter must have known. Upon receiving a brisk nod from the pink-haired girl she directed her attention back to the speaking blond.

"But I can't say I'll abandon becoming Hokage because now my goal is to become stronger. I want to become the strongest shinobi in the village so I can protect Sakura and everyone important to me. If in the midst of doing that people choose for me to become Hokage then I'm going to accept it. I don't know about the Fourth and Second, but I do know the First had a family so I can imagine the other two did as well. I mean how else could the Fourth fight something as powerful as the Kyuubi and win? He must have had something important to him to protect even if he viewed the village as his family like the Third used to tell us he did when he'd visit the academy. I guess all that I'm saying is I just want to be strong enough to protect everyone."

In the midst of Naruto's response Itsuki noticed his daughter's face scrunched up as if trying to recall something important. However it smoothed out as she decided to try to remember it later so that she could level a glare at him that conveyed a desire for him to drop the matter. Seeing it's counterpart on his wife's face, he said, "Well in any case it's good to see you have given the matter some serious thought. So how about we forget I brought it up and just enjoy this wonderful meal?"

They made small talk as they ate after which Sakura asked to walk Naruto back to his apartment. Considering how late it had gotten Itsuki had wanted to refuse but Sakura insisted arguing she was a kunoichi and would be fine. Getting the sense she wouldn't back down he relented but only after Naruto promised to send a shadow clone back with her. Helping his wife clean he smiled as she said, "I'm so glad she settled on him. Can you imagine what a mess she'd be if she still liked that Uchiha?"

"Let's both just be glad we don't need to worry about that. Although if she's anything like you I pity Sasuke, he must have hurt Naruto far more seriously than they let on."

"Me," Misaki replied mock angrily, "I wasn't the one that had her boyfriend staring at me like I'd devour his soul at any moment. I mean seriously do you really need to play the overprotective father."

"Who's playing," he said coming up behind his wife to pull her into him, "It's a father's role to be protective of his daughter. Besides as soon as that kid realizes he could mop the floor with me, he'll probably begin trying to seduce our little girl."

Turning in her husband's arms, Misaki said, "I'm more worried she'll be the one doing that. Besides just remember my father probably thought the same thing about you."

A knock at the front door attracted both of their attention but Itsuki replied to his wife, "Where do you think I learned my technique from?"

Misaki smirked but hearing the knock again pulled free of her husband's grasp calling, "Coming."

Itsuki turned back to the dishes to begin washing them but hearing his wife calling him decided to go and greet their late-night visitor.

* * *

Jiraiya was standing in front of the three posts where his team took their first steps towards becoming the Sannin. Lost in thought he didn't notice he wasn't alone until he heard.

"I thought I'd find you here," the gravelly voice of the Third said cutting into his reverie.

"Guess I was just feeling nostalgic," he replied turning to face his teacher. "What's up?"

"Well for one I've read the mission report turned in by Kakashi. I believe I understand why you want to take Naruto out of the village especially if this training involves tinkering with his seal. But…"

"But, if Sakura was the key to his regaining control why would I not take her with as well." Sarutobi nodded so he explained, "There's no guarantee her presence would help Naruto keep control. Let's just say for arguments sake I heard him confess how she was part of the bargain he struck with Kyuubi and this dark persona."

Sarutobi chuckled easily imagining his student hanging outside Naruto's hospital room window as the two genin talked imagining he could get some inspiration for his novels from it. "I think I can picture that."

Despite the levity in his teacher's voice Jiraiya remained serious saying, "While it is romantic to imagine that love conquers all I don't believe that was what truly happened. I think the reason that in this case Naruto was able to suppress the Kyuubi was because in a sense both he and his darker half were expecting it to attack her at some point."

"I think I understand what you are saying," Sarutobi said as he stroked his chin, "The Kyuubi needs the darker half in order to manifest itself to such a degree."

"Exactly, the Kyuubi has always thrived on hatred. I imagine this dark half is full of it considering how Naruto was treated. Still I imagine if someone loves another even if there is hatred towards them for wrongs committed that love tends to win out in the end."

"But that would seem to suggest Sakura would be a powerful asset to have then," the Third replied.

"Perhaps for the Kyuubi as well," Jiraiya said gravely, "The reason Naruto was able to exert control again was because on some level the two halves expected Kyuubi to strike at her. When it did so they were ready like a fighter being able to block a punch he's been expecting. But as Itachi should have known when he wound his brother up, hatred isn't so easy to control. Say Naruto gets pissed enough for the Kyuubi to manifest again, but this time Sakura's not at the heart of it so he's not ready to deflect the Kyuubi's aggression towards her and she tries to play the heroine again. Can you imagine what he'd feel if she got hurt or worse because he was unable to protect her?"

"I imagine it may be close to what you've felt when you were unable to protect those Ts…"

"Don't go bringing her into this," Jiraiya snapped. "Besides Sakura is her apprentice now and since she's your replacement they'll be staying here in the village."

"I'm afraid Tsunade still as pig-headed as ever," Sarutobi replied with a smile due in part to Jiraiya's rubbing his hand down his face but was mainly a result of the bargain he had struck with the former kunoichi of his team. Walking past his old student he placed his hand on the pole he had tied the Toad Sannin to when he had given them the bell test and said, "I think you should take this as the opportunity it is. Not just for those two to discover and strengthen the bond between them but for you to do so as well. I'm well aware that you've been watching out for her all these years. I imagine it is the only way she could gamble and lose at the rate she did, but it not reach my ears about her racking up massive amounts of debt."

"Pfft," Jiraiya snorted, "I just didn't want the name of the Sannin to be tarnished."

Sarutobi smiled but knew the truth of the matter, not to mention Orochimaru had done that long ago. Saying as much he countered, "Come now Jiraiya. I know how much she means to you. You tried harder than anyone to be there for her when Dan died."

"No I wasn't" Jiraiya admitted, "I just went through the motions. How can you tell someone how sorry you are when a part of you is glad he's out of the way?"

"A difficult question to answer but there is one."

"Really and what would that be?"

Sarutobi began walking away before saying, "By judging all the actions taken on her behalf both before that tragedy and after. But for now let's focus on the matter that as far as Naruto's training trip is concerned it is likely you'll be enjoying both Sakura and Tsunade's company. The sooner you accept that the better it should go for you."

* * *

Sakura rested her head on Naruto's shoulder which was a little uncomfortable since she was still slightly taller than him. She imagined she was getting a lot of confused looks from some of the shop vendors since they might have spotted her walking in a similar manner except heading the opposite way a little while before. Having dropped off Naruto, she was enjoying the idea that thanks to his shadow clone she could still show off her boyfriend to the village.

Reaching her home she kissed the clone's cheek in case her mom was looking having enjoyed a deeper one with the original. Entering her house after the clone dispelled she came to a stop upon seeing her parents sitting across from Tsunade. "Um, hello Lady Tsunade... what's going on?"

"I was just going over what your training was probably going to entail," Tsunade said placing the tea Sakura's mother had made for her down.

Her parents looked at her sadly as they sat holding each other on the so she asked, "Why do you guys look like this is a bad thing?"

Tsunade was the one that answered saying, "I imagine most parents don't greet the possibility that their children may be leaving for several years as a positive thing."

"What do you mean? I'm not going anywhere."

"Naruto is however. A training trip to be exact, if you decide to stay here it could be years until you see him again."

"H-he didn't say anything to me."

"He doesn't know yet," Tsunade said quickly, "I think Jiraiya only truly decided on it upon reaching the village. Naruto does need to grow stronger those Akatsuki clowns aren't going to give up on him. I believe Jiraiya is going to try and train Naruto in how best to harness the Kyuubi and as I'm sure you know Konoha isn't the most suitable of places to begin such training. Therefore the decision is yours we can remain here or you…"

"I want to go," Sakura said quickly, "Mom, Dad… I…"

"We understand honey," Misaki said smiling sadly at her daughter, "It's important to follow your heart. Now that you two have found each other it's important to support one another. "

Sakura nodded moving to give her parents a hug both of whom returned it. As they held each other her dad said, "We'll always be here for you and we expect you to write from time to time."

Tsunade smiled at the scene saying, "As touching as this is. It's not like they're leaving in the morning. Jiraiya plans to leave at the end of the week. Sakura, we'll begin training then so enjoy this week because once it's over pain and misery are going to be your constant companions." Standing she bid her charge's parents adieu before asking Sakura to escort her out. As they stood outside Sakura's home she said, "You agreed pretty quickly there. Were you expecting this?"

Sakura shook her head before saying, "I want to be there for Naruto. As soon as you said he was leaving my decision was made."

Tsunade smiled down at the kunoichi saying, "Good," a wistful look appeared on her face as she added, "I wish I had your strength."

"Lady Tsunade," Sakura said quizzically not sure what the woman meant.

"Never mind," Tsunade said shaking off the depression that threatened to take hold. "I'll see you at the end of the week so until then enjoy."

Sakura nodded and then went in to spend some time with her family realizing just how precious it had become. As the hour grew late she headed up to her room and after getting ready to turn in was about to climb into her bed when a light knock sounded against her window. Pulling open her drapes she saw Naruto and from the look on his face knew that he must have heard what was in store for him. She mentally kicked herself for not going to him since it was apparent he had been warring with himself over the news. As she opened the window he began to say, "Sakura, I need…"

She silenced him by kissing him and after ending it smiled at the dazed look on his face before saying, "I know. Jiraiya's taking you on a training trip."

"Y-you're okay with that… we won't get to see each other for years…"

"Naruto it wouldn't matter because I'd wait for you. But I'm going to be there with you every step of the way."

"Man that Pervy Sage I wouldn't have argued with him if he had said that."

"Well he probably doesn't know that yet, or he thinks he has a say in the matter. Besides if I know you then you'll get into all sorts of mischief like saving princesses from tyrannical rulers. I have to go along just to make sure they know you're mine, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Always," he said before kissing her forehead much as he did when he had been henged as Sasuke. Just like then she felt it was a dream come true but also now knew from where the warmth spreading through her came from.

Indulging in what in the future might become an addiction she kissed his lips saying, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Naruto said quickly pecking her on the forehead again before adding, "Let's go on that date I promised you. Good night."

Sakura nodded and closed her window as he left leaping over the rooftops. She smiled as she climbed into her bed still feeling the kiss on her forehead. As she let sleep claim her she found it hard not to think of her life as a fairy tale even though she knew the happy endings associated with them often depended on where the story stopped. Although hers was nowhere near over, she had to admit she was pleased with the end to the first chapter.


End file.
